Red Dead-Nettle › Folklore and the dead-nettle family
Folklore and the dead-nettle family
Red dead-nettle appears in one of the oldest English medical charms. Its relatives, the other dead-nettles, include some of our most familiar wild and garden plants.
An Anglo-Saxon charm
Red dead-nettle is one of three herbs named in the Anglo-Saxon charm Wið færstice ("against a sudden stitch" or sharp pain), which dates from around the late ninth century. In the charm, the herbs are heated in butter to make an ointment for sudden pain. The text mixes practical ideas and magic, and historians read it as an insight into early medieval beliefs about illness. It does not show that the plant works as a medicine, and nothing here is medical advice. For eating the plant, see foraging and eating.
What does "dead-nettle" mean?
The name comes from the leaves' resemblance to stinging nettles. These plants lack stinging hairs, so they seem "dead". The scientific name Lamium comes from a Greek word meaning "gullet", a reference to the throat-like shape of the flowers; Linnaeus described the genus in 1753. Other folk names for white dead-nettle include "bee nettle", from the way it attracts bumblebees. A distilled water from white dead-nettle flowers was traditionally believed to "make the heart merry" and improve the complexion, according to old herbals.
The wider family
Lamium is a genus of about 30 herbaceous flowering plants in the mint family (Lamiaceae). Most are native to Eurasia and northern Africa. Species can be annual or perennial, and many spread by seed and by stems that root along the ground. They have square stems, paired leaves and double-lipped flowers in many colours. Species found in Europe include:
| Common name | Latin name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Red dead-nettle | Lamium purpureum | Small annual with pinkish-purple flowers; this site's subject. |
| Henbit dead-nettle | Lamium amplexicaule | Annual lookalike with stalkless clasping upper leaves. |
| White dead-nettle | Lamium album | Tall perennial with white flowers; loved by bumblebees. |
| Cut-leaved dead-nettle | Lamium hybridum | A small annual with deeply cut leaves, found in Europe and North Africa. |
| Northern dead-nettle | Lamium confertum | Found in northern Europe, from Ireland to northern Russia. |
| Spotted dead-nettle | Lamium maculatum | Often grown in gardens for its patterned leaves. |
| Yellow archangel | Lamium galeobdolon | Yellow-flowered, shade-loving; often found in woodland. |
Check a UK flora for which of these are native, naturalised or garden escapes in Britain, as status differs from place to place.
Garden uses
Several species are grown as groundcover, though they can become invasive. White and purple-flowered types are planted in spring and prefer full sun, while yellow-flowered types are planted in autumn and prefer shade. Several are crop-field weeds, as is red dead-nettle, and some moth and case-bearer larvae feed on them.
Why learn the family?
Knowing the family helps you recognise a dead-nettle wherever you see one: square stem, paired leaves, hooded flowers and no sting. It also helps you check your identification against lookalikes. The relatives share a value for pollinators: see bees and wildlife.
Reading old herbals
Old herbals are fascinating, but they mix observation with belief. When they recommend a plant for an illness, treat it as history rather than advice. Modern botany is careful to separate what a plant is and does in nature from the claims made about it in the past.
Keep exploring
- Return to the identification guide with a plant in hand.
- Read about habitat and flowering to know where to look.
- If you are gardening, see garden management.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Wið færstice charm?
An Anglo-Saxon charm from around the late ninth century that names three herbs, including red dead-nettle, heated in butter to make an ointment for sudden pain.
Why is it called a dead-nettle?
Because it looks like a stinging nettle but has no stinging hairs, so it seems 'dead'.
How many species of Lamium are there?
About 30 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the mint family.