Lamium purpureum L. - Red Henbit
Scientific Description:
Annual. Stems 4−35 cm, glabrous to pubescent. Leaves broadly ovate, ovate-reniform or suborbicular, (3−)5−25 × 3−20 mm, obtuse, cordate to truncate, crenate or doubly crenate, pubescent-pilose; petioles (3−)10−25(−40) mm. Bracts similar to leaves. Verticillasters (l−)2−3(−6), (4−)6(−10)-flowered, lower distant, upper very crowded. Calyx (4−)6−8(−10) mm; tube (2−)3−4(−5) mm, glabrous to puberulent; teeth (2−)3−4(−5) mm, pilose or rarely plumose, sometimes aristate. Corolla purplish-pink with darker blotches on lower lip and whitish tube, rarely completely white, 10−22 mm; tube 6.5−16 mm, straight or geniculate at base, with annulus; upper lip (2.5−)4.5−6.5 mm, entire; lateral lobes of lower lip reduced to 0.2−0.5 mm teeth. Nutlets 1.9−2.5 × 1.0−1.5 mm, olive brown with a few white spots.
var. aznavourii Gand. ex Aznav.
Calyx teeth 4−7 mm, aristate, plumose.
var. purpureum
Calyx teeth (2−)3−4(−5) mm, neither aristate nor plumose.
Flowering time: March−May(−June).
Habitat: Quercus L. and Abies L. forest, earthy slopes, gravelly banks, fields and waste places, 30−1700 m.
Reference:
Mill RR (1982). Lamium purpureum L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 7: 140−141.
Public Description:
Lamium purpureum, known as “red henbit”, is native to Europe and Asia. It is an annual herb with purplish-pink flowers, and grows up to 35 cm in length. It blooms between March and June, and is found in oak and fir forest, earthy slopes, gravelly banks, fields and waste places, It is an important source of pollen for bees when they need the pollen as protein to build up their nest. Edible young leaves are used in salad and sauces.
References:
Anonymous 1 (2016). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamium_purpureum /, Accessed date: 14.02.2016.
Anonymous 2 (2016). http://www.arkive.org/red-dead-nettle/lamium-purpureum/ /, Accessed date: 14.02.2016.
Dirmenci T (2012). Lamium L., In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 555–558.