Yellow Archangel - Lamiastrum galeobdolon

Description

Strong smelling, hairy plant - stoloniferous, with long runners. Often patch forming. Flowers bright yellow with brownish markings, 17 to 21 mm long and borne in whorls on the upper half of the stem. Upper lip hooded the lower lip 3-lobed. Naturalised plants of the garden sub-species Argentatum can sometimes be found - these have silvery markings on the leaves. The garden variety is rampant invader and can out-compete native flora, but is a useful garden nectar plant, particularly for long-tongued bees.

Similar Species

The garden escape (subspecies argentatum)

Identification difficulty
ID guidance

plants found outside old woodlands are likely to be the garden escape (subspecies argentatum) with variegated leaves

Recording advice

Photograph of whole plant in flower, showing unvariegated leaves 

Habitat

Woods, coppices and shady ditches.

When to see it

April to July.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Fairly frequent in Britain especially in the southern half.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 72 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Yellow Archangel, Yellow Dead-Nettle
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Lamiales
Family:
Lamiaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
100
First record:
01/01/2007 (Harry Ball)
Last record:
25/05/2023 (Bennett, Simon)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

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