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 area was heavily altered by human use and at one time it was a sewage lagoon. The number of invasive plants that grow along the pathway and the water’s edge is related to the previous use of the area.

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. Purple Dead-Nettle does so well because a single plant produces thousands of seeds which remain viable for several years. The plant also spreads through fragmentation. Discarded parts of the roots or stems easily propagate new plants.

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