Uncultivated

Common names: English: deadnettle, purple deadnettle, red deadnettle, hybrid deadnettle, red archangel; Polish: kropywa głucha, jasnota szkarłatna, midunka, medunka, miduszka, pokrzywa głucha, pokrzywa kwitnąca; German: rote Taubnessel; Portuguese: urtiga-púrpura; Swedish: rödplister

Description: winter annual

Place of origin: Europe, north Africa, temperate Asia

Urban habitat: commonly found in lawns, parks, gardens, along roadsides, in waste areas; tolerates a wide variety of soil types.

Ecological function: disturbance-adapted colonizer; food for bees.

History: The leaves of Lamium purpureum are edible and nutritious, consumed as a vegetable or used as an herb. The plant also has medicinal uses, as an astringent, diuretic, laxative, and used to arrest hemorrhaging, and to induce vomiting and perspiration.