White Dead-nettle, the nectar at the base of the tube-like flowers of Lamium album is only accessible to long-tongued insects such as bumble bees and mason bees. Smaller insects are often not heavy enough to open the flowers. The nettle-shaped leaves of Lamium album do not sting and are eaten by slugs and snails.
Lamium album got its common name ‘deadnettle’ because its leaves resemble those of the stinging nettle (Urtica dioica). Unlike the nettle, Lamium album does not have stinging hairs, and can be easily distinguished by its large white (or pink) flower (the flowers of Urtica dioica are tiny and greenish).
Medicinal Uses
Flowers boiled in water can be used as a traditional herbal remedy for catarrh and dropsy, and the roots boiled in wine as a remedy for kidney stones. The plant is also used as a herbal treatment for leucorrhoea, benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and for gastrointestinal problems.
For those who stop and admire the view, just behind them is a valuable medicine.
