Purple Dead-nettle
Lamium purpureum

f32 @ 1/320s, ISO:2000, Nikon D3S w 105mm macro

"Lamium purpureum," Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Lamium purpureum, known as red dead-nettle, purple dead-nettle, or purple archangel, is a herbaceous flowering plant native to Europe and Asia. Lamium purpureum grows with square stems to 5–20 cm (rarely 30 cm) in height. The leaves have fine hairs, are green at the bottom and shade to purplish at the top; they are 2–4 cm long and broad, with a 1–2 cm petiole (leaf stalk), and wavy to serrated margins. The zygomorphic flowers are bright red-purple, with a top hood-like petal, two lower lip petal lobes and minute fang-like lobes between. The corolla shows a line of hairs near the base of the tube. They may be produced throughout the year, including mild weather in winter. This allows bees to gather its nectar for food when few other nectar sources are available. It is also a prominent source of pollen for bees in March/April (in UK), when bees need the pollen as protein to build up their nest.

Bourne, Massachusetts

05/22/2020