As its common names suggest, this is a creeping plant; as the horizontal stems (stolons) spread laterally, they root from the nodes, so enabling the plant to rapidly colonise large areas where conditions are favourable. The stems are square in section and emit a distinctive smell when crushed.

It has numerous medicinal uses for example, in traditional Austrian medicine the herb has been prescribed for the treatment of variety of different conditions including disorders associated with the liver and bile, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, kidneys and urinary tract, fever, and flu. The fresh herb can be rinsed and steeped in hot water to create an herbal tea which is rich in vitamin C. It has a distinctive, mildly peppery flavour; it can be cooked as a pot herb, although it is most commonly eaten as a fresh salad green.

Lamium maculatum is a prostrate, spreading herbaceous perennial , very variable in terms of leaf size and shape, hairiness and flower colour. Although the leaves resemble those of the stinging nettle, they lack stinging hairs.

Flowers are ‘hunched’ in form with a large helmet-like hood. The bi-lobed lower lip is white with dark purple markings (hence the name ‘spotted deadnettle’). Stamens are located under the hood and have dark purple-brown anthers that produce reddish-orange pollen.

Stems are erect, hollow and hairy, branched at the base only.

The long flowering period of Red Deadnettle makes it a valuable food plant for nectar-collecting insects , especially early in the year when other food sources are scarce.

It is often found alongside Henbit Deadnettle which is easily mistaken for it since they both have similar looking leaves and similar bright purple flowers. They can be distinguished by the stalked leaves of Red Deadnettle, compared to the unstalked leaves of Henbit Deadnettle that clasp the stem closely. It is also similar to another other common species, the Spotted Deadnettle that has a more pointed, serrated, typically nettle-like leaf and larger more hooded flowers than this one.

Henbit Deadnettle is an annual plant that propagates freely by seed. It flowers in the early spring and well into the summer with a second flowering period in autumn. In bad weather, small flower buds are formed that may never open. These pollinate themselves, so increasing the overall production of seed.

Stem slightly square in cross section and long internodes between whorls of leaves and flowers

An important food plant for nectar feeding insects, especially in early spring when few other plants are in bloom.

This plant sends out numerous lowügrowing runners that root at the nodes, typically producing a dense mat of growth.

Stems are square in diameter, reddish lower down and hairy in upper zone.

Leaves are oval to spadeüshaped, arranged in opposite pairs with notched margins, short stalks and shiny upper surfaces.

Flowers attach closely in the axils of the leaves in a dense spike giving the appearance of whorls as the spike elongates. The upper lip appears to be missing but it is present in a tiny, reduced form. The stamens, 2 long and 2 short, are prominent, the 3 lobes of the lower lip have distinct whitish markings. Flowers usually blue but occasionally purple, pink or white.

The 5 sepals are toothüshaped and hairy.

This flower is an important source of nectar for certain butterflies, for example the Fritillary.