In volume 2 of
Species Plantarum published in 1753, the Swedish botanist
Carl Linnaeus established
genus Lamium by recognizing four
species:
Lamium album,
Lamium purpureum,
Lamium amplexicaule, and
Lamium multifidum. The name
Lamium is the primary
generic name in use today. ,
Plants of the World Online accepts the following species: •
Lamium album L. – (white dead-nettle) – widespread across Europe + northern Asia from Spain + Norway to Japan + Kamchatka; naturalised in New Zealand + North America •
Lamium amplexicaule L. – (henbit dead-nettle) – widespread across Europe and northern Asia from Spain + Norway to Japan + Kamchatka, as well as North Africa, Ethiopia, Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands; naturalised in New Zealand, Hawaii, South America + North America •
Lamium bakhtiaricum Jamzad – Iran •
Lamium bifidum Cirillo – Mediterranean from Portugal to Romania •
Lamium bilgilii Celep – Turkey •
Lamium cappadocicum Celep & Karaer – Turkey •
Lamium caucasicum Grossh. – Caucasus (southern European Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan) •
Lamium confertum Fr. – (northern dead-nettle) – northern Europe from Ireland to northern Russia; naturalised in Greenland + Iceland •
Lamium coutinhoi J.G.García – Portugal •
Lamium cyrneum Paradis –
Corsica •
Lamium demirizii A.P.Khokhr. – Turkey •
Lamium eriocephalum Benth. – Turkey •
Lamium flexuosum Ten. – Spain, France, Italy, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia •
Lamium galactophyllum Boiss. & Reut. – Turkey •
Lamium galeobdolon (L.) L. – (yellow archangel) – northern + central Europe and western Asia from Spain + Denmark east to Iran + Western Siberia; naturalised in North America, New Zealand,
Madeira •
Lamium garganicum L. – Mediterranean + western Asia from Portugal to Kazakhstan + Saudi Arabia •
Lamium gevorense (Gómez Hern.) Gómez Hern. & A.Pujadas – Spain, Portugal, Corsica •
Lamium glaberrimum (K.Koch) Taliev – Crimea •
Lamium × holsaticum Prahl – central Europe
(L. album × L. maculatum) •
Lamium hybridum Vill. – (cut-leaved dead-nettle) – Europe,
Macaronesia, North Africa •
Lamium macrodon Boiss. & A.Huet – Turkey, Caucasus, Syria, Iran, Iraq •
Lamium maculatum L. – (spotted dead-nettle) – Europe + Middle East from Portugal to Turkey; also Gansu + Xinjiang Provinces of western China •
Lamium moschatum Mill. – eastern Mediterranean (Greece, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus) •
Lamium multifidum L. – Turkey, Caucasus •
Lamium orientale (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) E.H.L.Krause – Turkey, Syria, Palestine •
Lamium orvala L. – Austria, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia •
Lamium purpureum L. (red dead-nettle) – northern + central Europe and western Asia from Spain + Denmark east to Caucasus + Siberia; naturalised in Korea, Taiwan, North America, New Zealand, Argentina, Falkland Islands •
Lamium taiwanense S.S.Ying – Taiwan •
Lamium × schroeteri Gams – France, Switzerland, Hungary •
Lamium tomentosum Willd. – Turkey, Caucasus, Iran, Iraq •
Lamium tschorochense A.P.Khokhr. – Turkey •
Lamium vreemanii A.P.Khokhr. – Turkey Several closely related genera were formerly included in
Lamium by some
botanists, including
Galeopsis (hemp-nettles) and
Leonurus (motherworts).
Etymology The generic name
Lamium was used by
Pliny the Elder in the first century AD. The name comes from the Greek
laimos, which means "gullet", a reference to the gaping throat-like appearance of the corolla. The common name "dead-nettle" has been derived from the German
Taubnessel ("deaf nettle", or "nettle without a kernel"), and refers to the
resemblance of
Lamium album to the very distantly related
stinging nettles, but unlike those, they do not have stinging hairs and so are harmless or apparently "dead". ==Distribution and habitat==