It is not one of the rare plants. On the contrary, you can find them in the most remote and barren locations, the red dead-nettle, also called purple dead-nettle. Below you will find all the important information about this herb.
The red deadnettle blooms from April to October
All facts in profile format
- Plant Family: Lamiaceae
- Botanical name: Lamium purpureum
- Lifespan: one year
- Origin: Europe
- Occurrence: Gardens, fallow land, fields, roadsides
- Growth: low, upright
- Leaves: green, ovate, notched
- Flowering time: April to October
- flowers: purple, labiate
- Fruits: four-part split fruit
- Location: sun to semi-shade
- Soil: fresh, nutritious, loose
An annual and common plant
The red deadnettle is an annual plant that looks very similar to the spotted deadnettle. It is found on roadsides, in gardens, on meadows, on the edges of forests and on fallow land. It prefers to settle in loose, fresh and nutrient-rich loamy soil. It is considered the most common dead nettle species.
A look from the bottom up
Take a look at this plant: it grows between 15 and 50 cm. Its growth is upright, slender and appears bushy overall. Overall, one can say that the red deadnettle is extremely fast-growing. In the spring she is one of the first to green the dreary landscape.
The notched leaves lie on edged stems. Still reddish when they sprout, they later become medium green. They are tapered towards the front and while the lowest leaves are heart-shaped, the upper leaves are ovate. The arrangement of the up to 5 cm long leaves is opposite. They resemble the leaves of the white deadnettle.
The heyday begins
The flowers appear at the top in April. The flowering period begins almost at the same time as that of the white dead-nettle. Sometimes the flowers are already present in March or even in winter. The flowering period lasts until October.
The individual flowers stand together in pseudowhorls. They are located in the upper leaf axils. Their greenish calyx is hairy and they reach a length of about 1 cm. A purple describes their color.
tips
The flowers can often be seen even in winter and can easily be cut off as cut flowers for the vase.