White Dead-nettle, Red Dead-nettle and Bifid Hemp-nettle

These are in the Lamiaceae family. The generic name is from the Greek 'lamia' meaning devouring monster. This refers to the helmet shape (galeate) of the flower which has the appearance of open jaws. Only Bifid Hemp-nettle is native, the other two are of ancient introduction. Red dead-nettle was probably introduced with early agriculture. Evidence of it has been found in Bronze Age settlements.

White Dead-nettle, Lamium album

This is, of course, a common sight in most of lowland Britain, in bloom most of the year from March to December, and has had various uses in herbal medicine. The dense well-spaced whorls of flowers are distinctive. Grigson says, rightly I think, its charms are overlooked and that for a start it is not pure white but white suffused with green. The lower lip is marked with gold something I have always noted.

What I had not discovered was the folk name in Somerset, Adam-and-Eve-in-the-Bower, which refers to the four black and gold stamens which lie side by side under the upper, hooded lip like human figures. (More detail on http://wildflowerfinder.org.uk/ )The plant is hairy but the upper lip is softly felted and fringed. 

One of our under-rated plants in hedgerow, verge and waste ground. Also with a claim to one of the best folk names ever?

Red Dead-nettle, Lamium purpureum

This plant like White Dead-nettle has the folk names Bee-nettle and Deaf-nettle. Latin names make identification clear. Bee-nettle in particular underlines the importance of these plants to pollinators. I recently walked along a field where the margins had been sprayed with weedkiller. There was an absence  of bees until I got to a corner that had been missed by the sprayer where both White and Red Dead-nettle thrived. Guess what - lots of bees.

It is a more delicate plant than White Dead-nettle, softly downy with whorls of reddish-purple flowers. All leaves are stalked. 

The upper lip of the corolla encloses the four stamens. 

The plant has accrued a considerable reputation as a herbal remedy for bleeding of any kind. Bruised leaves were also applied to wounds.

Bifid Hemp-nettle, Galeopsis bifida

Thanks to #Wildflowerhour team for confirming my ID of this plant which I don't think I have ever seen before. It grows on waste ground near arable fields from where it may have come. The seeds are of low fertility so it does not spread widely.

The flower colour is variable but the central lobe of the lower lip is always distinctly notched (hence the name bifid) and folded down along the margins. The dark markings extend almost to the edge. 

Flowers, stems and leaves are hairy. The stems, often reddish, are square and hairy on all sides.

The first two of these Lamiaceae family are really common but I wonder how many of us have stooped to admire, particularly in the case of White Dead-nettle, the stamens.

Acknowledgements : Stace 4, Harrap's Wild Flowers, Grigson The Englishman's Flora Websites http://wildflowerfinder.org.uk/, https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk, http://botanical.com/