Weed Information: Lamium maculatum (deadnettle, spotted)
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Lamium maculatum (deadnettle, spotted)

Family: Lamiaceae

Description

Note the prominently spotted leaves of this common ornamental groundcover. Due to extreme shade tolerance it is often weedy in wooded areas.

Characteristics

Flower Color
  • Purple
  • Red-purple
  • White
Inflorescence Type (How the flowers are arranged on the plant)
  • Axillary cluster
Number of Petals
  • 5 petals
Petal Separation
  • United > 75% of length
Petal Tip
  • Bilobed
  • Rounded
Flower Symmetry
  • Flowers strongly irregular
Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)
  • 2.0 cm (.8 inch)
  • 2.5 cm (1.0 inch)
  • 3.0 cm (1.2 inches)
Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)
  • 6 mm (.24 inch)
  • 7 mm (.28 inch)
  • 8 mm (.32 inch)
  • 9 mm (.36 inch)
Number of Sepals
  • 5 sepals
Sepal Separation
  • United from 25% - 75% length
Sepal Tip
  • Pointed
Flower Sex
  • Bisexual (perfect)
Number of Styles
  • 1 style
Number of Stamens
  • 5 stamens
Stamens Attached to the Petals
  • Stamens attached to the petals
Stamens Connate (united)
  • Filaments or anthers NOT united

Carpel Separation
  • Carpels united (or one)
Number of Carpels
  • 2 carpels
  • 4 carpels
Ovary Position
  • Superior (hypogynous)
Fruit Type
  • Nutlets, 4
Fruit Length at Maturity
  • 2 mm (.08 inch)
  • 3 mm (.12 inch)
  • 4 mm (.16 inch)
Fruit Width at Maturity
  • 4 mm (.16 inch)
  • 5 mm (.20 inch)
  • 6 mm (.24 inch)
Burs
  • Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement
  • Opposite
Leaf Type
  • Simple (including lobed leaves)
Stipules
  • Lacking
Tendrils
  • Tendrils absent
Venation
  • Pinnate
Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio
  • Petiole < 25% total length
  • Petiole 25% - 75% total length
Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)
  • 1 - 2 cm (.40 - .80 inch)
  • 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.60 inches)
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.60 - 4.0 inches)
Leaf Width
  • 1 - 2 cm (.40 - .80 inch)
  • 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.6 inches)
Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)
  • Cordate (heart)
  • Deltoid (triangular)
  • Ovate
Leaf or Leaflet Margin
  • Crenate
  • Serrate
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base
  • Cordate
  • Truncate
Leaf or Leaflet Tip
  • Acute
  • Rounded (obtuse)
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface
  • Hirsute
  • Pubescent
Succulence
  • Not succulent

Milky Juice
  • Juice NOT milky (watery)
Woodiness
  • Herbaceous
Spines or Thorns
  • Spines or Thorns ABSENT
Aromatic (vegetative structures)
  • Not aromatic
Life Cycle
  • Perennial
Growth Habit (while flowering)
  • Spreading ascending
  • Erect, spherical (bushy)
Plant Height at Maturity
  • 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
  • 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)
  • 4 - 6 dm (1.3 - 2.0 feet)
Wind Dissemination
  • Not wind disseminated
Moisture Regime
  • Mesic
Chlorophyll
  • Present

Stem Cross Section
  • Square
Flowering Stem Leaves
  • Stem uniformly leafy
Main Stem Branches
  • Main stem unbranched
  • Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule
  • Fibrous
  • Rooting at the nodes

US State
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Illinois
  • Massachusetts
  • Maine
  • Michigan
  • North Carolina
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • West Virginia
  • Maryland
  • Vermont
  • Alaska
  • Idaho
  • Minnesota
  • Oregon
  • Washington
Canadian Province or Territory
  • British Columbia
  • Ontario
  • Quebec
  • Newfoundland

  • How to Know the Weeds, 1972, (ISBN# 0-697-04880-2) See page: 129
  • Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 372, 373
  • Weeds of the Northeast, 1997 Cornell University ISBN# 0-8014-8334-4 See page: 248
  • Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x
  • Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X
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