Flora of Israel: Lamium amplexicaule

Lamium amplexicaule, Giraffe’s Head, Henbit Deadnettle, Greater Henbit, Henbit Dead-nettle,

Hebrew: נזמית לופתת, Arabic: فم السمك خوذيه, Egypt: فم إل-سمكه “Fomm El-Samakah”


Scientific name:		Lamium amplexicauleL.
Common name:		Giraffe’s Head, Henbit Deadnettle, Greater Henbit, Henbit Dead-nettle
Hebrew name:		נזמית לופתת
Arabic name:		فم السمك خوذيه
Egypt:		فم إل-سمكه “Fomm El-Samakah”
Plant Family:		Labiatae / Lamiaceae, שפתניים


Life form:		Therophyte, annual
Stems:		to 10-25 cm tall, ascending to erect, purplish basally, greenish above, 4-angled, hollow, scabrous
Leaves:		Opposite, entire, dentate or serrate; lower leaves have petioles, upper leaves stem clasping
Flowers:		Violet tubular flowers, borne in clusters of 6-10 in the axils of the upper stem-clasping leaves
Fruits / pods:		Nutlets brown, 2mm long, glabrous
Flowering Period:		January, February, March, April, December
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana, Disturbed habitats ןn urban and rural areas
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Euro-Siberian – Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

Derivation of the botanical name:

Lamium, old Latin name of a nettle-like plant mentioned by Pliny, said by some to be based on the Greek laimos (the throat or gullet).

amplexicaule, amplector, to wind around, surround; caulis, καυλοϛ, stem of a plant; stems clasped.
The Hebrew name:נזמית, nizmit, formed from נזם (= nose ring, earring) with suffix -it.

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

_{Location: Poleg Gateway Nature Reserve, שמורת טבע פולג}