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Henbit Dead-nettle
Lamium amplexicaule L.
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Family: Lamiaceae,
Mint
Genus: Lamium
Description
General: annual from a short taproot, generally branched at
the base, the several weak stems creeping below. Herbage
inconspicuously stiff- or flat-hairy to almost hairless.
 Leaves: opposite, the ones on the lower part of the
stem stalked, with broad, rounded, heart-shaped blades,
coarsely round-toothed or -lobed, seldom as much as 1.5
cm long. The upper leaves and the leaflike bracts under the
flower clusters are stalkless, broad-based, clasping, often
1.5 cm long, longer than the calyces but usually shorter
than the corollas.
 Flowers: few in terminal whorls, sometimes in a few
more whorls from the upper bracts. Calyx stiff-hairy, 5-8
mm long, the 5 narrow, erect lobes about equaling the
tube. Corolla purplish, 12-18 mm long, hairless inside,
hairy outside, the hairs outside the upper lip purple. The
upper lip erect, arched like a hood, 3-5 mm long. Lower lip
2-lobed. Occasional plants produce small flowers, never
opening, fertilized in the bud.
Flowering time: May-July.
 Fruits: nutlets, angularly 3-sided, blunt at the tip.
Distribution
A weed in fields and waste places, in w. and c. parts of
MT. Native to Eurasia and n. Africa, now well established
in N. America.
 Edible and Medicinal plant, see below.
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(click on image for full size)
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(click on images for full size)
Edible Uses:
Young leaves henbit dead-nettle are considered to be edible raw or cooked. They have been used as additions
to salads or as a potherb.
Medicinal Uses:
The plant is antirheumatic, excitant, fever-reducing, laxative, stimulant, and has agents that induce sweating.
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