- Family:
- Lamiaceae Martinov
- Genus:
- Lamium L.
Lamium maculatum (L.) L.
Lamium maculatum is a very variable species in the wild, where leaf size and shape, petiole (leaf stalk) length, hairiness and flower colour can be quite different even in the same population. The spotted leaves of this plant give it both its common and Latin names (maculatum = spotted, stained). In the wild the white leaf markings are more likely to be present during the winter. The leaf markings make spotted dead-nettle attractive to gardeners. There are now numerous cultivars with leaves much more decorative than those of their wild relatives, for example Lamium maculatum 'Beacon Silver' and L. maculatum 'Roseum'.

[FTEA]
Lamiaceae (Labiatae), A.J. Paton, G. Bramley, O. Ryding, R.M. Polhill, Y.B. Harvey, M. Iwarsson, F. Willis, P.B. Phillipson, K. Balkwill, C.W. Lukhoba, D.F. Otieno, & R.M. Harley. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2009
- Morphology General Habit
- Perennial herb grown as ground cover
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves ovate to kidney-shaped, 10–90 × 10–70 mm, irregularly scalloped, usually with a white or pale central marking
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescence lax with well-spaced several-flowered verticils
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx 8–15 mm long, tubular-campanulate with 5 equal teeth
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla pink, purple or white, 20–35 mm long, tube curved and with a hooded posterior lip
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens 4 ascending under posterior lip.
- Note
- No specimens seen. A native of Europe to China
[KSP]
Kew Species Profiles
- General Description
-
The leaf markings of the spotted dead-nettle make it an attractive and popular choice for gardeners, and with its large purple flowers easily distinguish it from the common stinging nettle (
Urtica dioica).
Lamium maculatum is a very variable species in the wild, where leaf size and shape, petiole (leaf stalk) length, hairiness and flower colour can be quite different even in the same population. The spotted leaves of this plant give it both its common and Latin names (maculatum = spotted, stained). In the wild the white leaf markings are more likely to be present during the winter. The leaf markings make spotted dead-nettle attractive to gardeners. There are now numerous cultivars with leaves much more decorative than those of their wild relatives, for example Lamium maculatum 'Beacon Silver' and L. maculatum 'Roseum'.
- Species Profile
-
Geography and distribution
Europe to China; introduced in Great Britain and New Zealand; found growing as a garden escape in Canada and the USA. Spotted dead-nettle has been found up to 2,000 m above sea level.
DescriptionOverview: Spotted dead-nettle is a perennial herb with creeping stems (but with distal parts upright), and is mostly hairy.
Leaves: The leaves have petioles (leaf stalks) that are shorter than the blades. The leaf blades are heart-shaped to ovate or ovate-oblong, and the margins are usually coarsely scalloped to toothed; the upper and lower surfaces are hairy, the upper surface often with a white band and a few blotches either side, especially in winter.
Flowers: The calyx is tubular, with five narrowly triangular teeth. The corolla is purple, rarely white with dark purple markings. The upper lip is arched, and the lower lip is about as long as the upper lip and at right angles to it. The stamens (male parts) are held in the upper lip and bear orange pollen.
Fruits: The fruit comprises four brown nutlets (one-seeded sections, or mericarps, of the fruit).
UsesSpotted dead-nettle makes an attractive addition to herbaceous borders or woodland gardens, and is a useful ground cover species.
This species at KewSpotted dead-nettle can be seen growing in the Queen's Garden, adjacent to Kew Palace and in the Plant Family Beds at Kew.
Pressed and dried specimens of Lamium maculatum are held in the Herbarium at Kew, where they are made available by appointment to researchers from around the world. The details, including an image, of one of these specimens can be seen online in the Herbarium Catalogue.
- Ecology
- Mixed and deciduous forests, in thickets and hedges, roadsides, banks of streams, rocky places and walls, mountain pastures and fields; grows best in calcareous soil and shade.
- Conservation
- Widespread and not of conservation concern.
- Hazards
-
None known.
Native to:
Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Rus, China North-Central, Czechoslovakia, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Netherlands, North Caucasus, North European Russi, Northwest European R, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, South European Russi, Spain, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Ukraine, Xinjiang, Yugoslavia
Introduced into:
Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Newfoundland, Vermont, Wisconsin
- Lamium affine Guss. & Ten.
- Lamium cardiaca Cogn.
- Lamium columnae Ten.
- Lamium cupreum Schott
- Lamium cupreum subsp. dilatatum (Schur) Nyman
- Lamium elegantissimum Schur
- Lamium foliosum Crantz
- Lamium grandiflorum Willd. ex Benth.
- Lamium grenieri Mutel
- Lamium gundelsheimeri K.Koch
- Lamium hirsutum Lam.
- Lamium laevigatum L.
- Lamium maculatum subsp. nemorale (Rchb.) Stoj. & Stef.
- Lamium maculatum subsp. strictopurpureum A.P.Khokhr.
- Lamium maculatum var. villosifolium R.R.Mill
- Lamium melissifolium Mill.
- Lamium mutabile Dumort.
- Lamium niveum Schrad.
- Lamium pallidiflorum Beck
- Lamium rubrum Jenk.
- Lamium rugosum Aiton
- Lamium stoloniferum Lapeyr.
- Lamium tillii Ten.
- Lamium truncatum Boiss.
- Lamium villosifolium (R.R.Mill) A.P.Khokhr.
- English
- Spotted dead-nettle
Lamium maculatum (L.) L. appears in other Kew resources:
Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status | Has image? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nov 1, 1981 | Kotschy, C.G.T. [231], Romania | K000928103 | Yes | ||
Brummit, R.K. [6], Spain | K000509225 | Yes | |||
Cope, T.A. [RBG 309], United Kingdom | K000914336 | Yes |
First published in Sp. Pl. ed. 2: 809 (1763)
Accepted by
- Ackerfield, J. (2015). Flora of Colorado: 1-818. BRIT Press.
- Castroviejo, S. & al. (eds.) (2010). Flora Iberica 12: 1-650. Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Madrid.
- Chilton, L. (2010). Plant list for Lesvos, slightly revised 1998-2009: 1-36. Marengo, Hunstanton, England.
- Gilman, A.V. (2015). New flora of Vermont Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 110: 1-614.
- Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Kravchenko, A.V., Timofeeva, V.V., Rudkocskaya, O.A. & Fadeeva, M.A. (2008). Vascular plant species new and rare to Karelia Botanicheskii Zhurnal. Moscow & Leningrad 93: 776-788.
- Mohlenbrock, R.H. (2014). Vascular Flora of Illinois. A Field Guide, ed. 4: 1-536. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.
- Werier, D. (2017). Catalogue of the Vascular plants of New York state Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club 27: 1-542. New York Botanical Garden.
Literature
Kew Species Profiles
- Huxley, A., Griffiths, M. & Levy, M. (eds) (1992). The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. Vol. 3 (L to Q): 12. Macmillan Press, London.
- Mennema, J. (1989). A Taxonomic Revision of Lamium (Lamiaceae) (Leiden Botanical Series, Volume 11). E.J. Brill, Leiden.
Kew Backbone Distributions
- Ackerfield, J. (2015). Flora of Colorado: 1-818. BRIT Press.
- Chadde, S.W. (2019). Minnesota Flora. An illustrated guide to the vascular plants of Minnesota ed. 2: 1-776. Steve W. Chadde.
- Chadde, S.W. (2019). Wisconsin Flora ed. 2: 1-818. Steve W. Chadde.
- Chilton, L. (2010). Plant list for Lesvos, slightly revised 1998-2009: 1-36. Marengo, Hunstanton, England.
- Danin, A. & Fragman- Sapir, O. (2019). Flora of Israel Online http://flora.org.il/en/plants/.
- Gilman, A.V. (2015). New flora of Vermont Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 110: 1-614.
- Meades, S.J. & Brouillet, L. (2019). Annotated Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Newfoundland and Labrador https://www.newfoundland-labradorflora.com/checklist/.
- Mohlenbrock, R.H. (2014). Vascular Flora of Illinois. A Field Guide, ed. 4: 1-536. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.
- Werier, D. (2017). Catalogue of the Vascular plants of New York state Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club 27: 1-542. New York Botanical Garden.
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- K.H.S., Gard. E. Afr.: 135 (1995)
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Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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Kew Science Photographs
Copyright applied to individual images
-
Kew Species Profiles
Kew Species Profiles
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0