Lamium amplexicaule L.

  • Authority

    Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

  • Family

    Lamiaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Lamium amplexicaule L.

  • Description

    Species Description - Annual 1–4 dm from a short taproot, generally branched at the base, the several weak stems decumbent below; herbage inconspicuously hairy or subglabrous; proper lvs restricted to the lower part of the stem, petiolate, with broad, rounded, ± cordate, coarsely crenate or lobulate blade seldom 1.5(–2) cm; lvs subtending the fl-clusters sessile, broad-based, clasping, often 1.5(–2.5) cm, surpassing the cals but usually surpassed by the cors; verticils few and (except sometimes the upper) mostly well spaced, the lowest fully developed one often borne at or below the middle of the stem; lowest verticil sometimes few-fld and subtended by petiolate lvs; cal hirsute, 5–8 mm, the narrow, erect lobes about equaling the tube; cor purplish, 12–18 mm, glabrous inside, hairy outside, the tube straight; upper lip 3–5 mm, with purple hairs; occasional plants produce small, cleistogamous fls; 2n=18. A weed in fields and waste places, especially in fertile soil; native to Eurasia and n. Africa, now well established in our range and elsewhere in Amer. Mar.–Nov.

  • Common Names

    henbit