Red Dead Nettle, Lamium purpureum
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Red dead nettle is equally often
known as "Purple dead nettle." While in fact, the flowers are neither red nor
purple but clearly pink. However, the "red" or "purple" part of its
name may also refer to the top leaves of the plant, which have a distinct purple or
reddish hue. Red dead nettle is a plant
native to Eurasia. With the arrival of Caucasian settlers in America, it has spread and is
now a common annual weed in gardens over much the new continent. It has shallow roots,
however, and is easy to manually weed out.
In my native Sweden, Red dead nettle is an exceptionally
common weed and I was suprised when my horticulturist neighbor was not immediately able to
identify it by name, although she did recognize it. Personally, I knew only the Swedish
name and was curious what it was called in English. My American flora did not include it. |