Island NatureExploring nature on Vancouver Island, British Columbia and beyond

Purple Dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum) forms carpets over the ground.

Last summer I wrote about some of the invasive species of plants that I was noticing on my walks around the Courtenay Airpark Lagoon. This is an area that has been heavily altered by human use (at one time it was a sewage lagoon) and that is reflected in the number of invasive plants that can be found along the pathway and the water’s edge.

Note the reddish-purple toothed leaves and partially hidden flowers of Purple Dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum).

One of the plants that I’ve noticed recently is the Purple Dead-Nettle (Lamium purpureum). This is a distinctive member of Lamiacea (Mint Family) and fairly easy to identify by its reddish-purple upper leaves that partially hide the light pink/lavender flowers. It gets the name “dead-nettle” from the fact that it looks nettle-like but its leaves don’t sting when touched. Introduced from Eurasia, the Purple Dead-Nettle seems to be doing very well in the Comox Valley. I’ve seen it in abandoned lots and even in our neighbour’s road allowance flower bed where it appears to have come in with the soil (I don’t think they planted it because the entire bed has a sort of random chaotic look to it with lots of other weeds).

Once you’ve seen this plant you’ll see it everywhere!

Responses

1. Susannah says:
   

   April 15th, 2010 at 2:17 am (#)

   I love these plants. Around here, I see them at the edges of boggy soil or salt marshes.

2. Suzanne says:
   

   April 16th, 2010 at 5:08 pm (#)

   Your photos make this invasive weed look like a thing of beauty! I just plucked one out of my yard this afternoon.

3. Burcu Meltem Arik Akyuz says:
   

   April 17th, 2010 at 10:11 am (#)

   This lamium sp. is native to Turkey. I took photos with my husband at a nearby park )) and blogged another sp. on my blog. Thanks for the inspiration

4. Monika says:
   

   December 3rd, 2010 at 11:38 pm (#)

   Dave -
   Thanks for finding my blog and commenting about my self-heal/purple dead nettle mix up. I have been confusing these species for a while now and actually did catch my mistake on a couple of other blog posts. I thought I had corrected all but I missed that one! Nice to find your blog, too, I’ll be following along.
   Cheers,
   Monika

5. Dave Ingram says:
   

   December 3rd, 2010 at 11:45 pm (#)

   Thanks Monika – good to find your blog as well! Nice to have another nature blogger in the Pacific Northwest.
   Dave

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by Dave