LARGE-FLOWERED HEMP-NETTLE

LARGE HEMP-NETTLE

Galeopsis speciosa

Mint / Dead-Nettle Family [Lamiaceae]  

month8jul month8july month8aug month8sep month8sept

status
statusZarchaeophyte
 
flower
flower8bicolour
 
flower
flower8yellow
 
inner
inner8purple
 
morph
morph8zygo
 
petals
petalsZ2
 
stem
stem8square
 
stem
stem8hollow
 
smell
smell8strong smell8foul
strong
sex
sexZbisexual
 

17th Sept 2009, Crop Field, Rufford, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
A very stunted specimen in natural habitat.


17th Sept 2009, Crop Field, Rufford, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Flowers stand upright on longish pillars. Leaves nettle-shaped.


17th Sept 2009, Crop Field, Rufford, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Pentangular spiked receptacles near top where the flowers are supposed to emerge.


17th Sept 2009, Crop Field, Rufford, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Flowers two-lipped. lower lip splits into three; two 'arms' and a lip. Flowers coloured yellow and white with the lower lip splashed with purple. Leaves toothed with short hairs.


17th Sept 2009, Crop Field, Rufford, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Upper petal is hairy on upper surface. Four long stamens with greyish pollen crouch underneath the upper lip.


17th Sept 2009, Crop Field, Rufford, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Like a ghostly alien, the side lips hang like arms, lower sleeves white. The lower middle lip of the 'tunic' has a large purple splurge on the lower part which looks like a housewives' apron, and purple markings on a yellow background in the upper half. A roll-over collar completes the attire. The hair on the head and the four eyes give him away as an alien however. The two roll-over collars at the junctions between the lower lips identifies Hemp-Nettles from Dead-Nettles.

Being more serious, the 4 white filaments running beneath the top cap/hood/topmost-petal can be made out, along with their open anthers at the ends. Between them can also be espied a white style with its white stigma at the top of the hood. Also notable are the long hairs on the top of the hood, as well as a greater density of much-shorter hairs which may have either glands(?) or hooks(?) at the ends.



17th Sept 2009, Crop Field, Rufford, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The stems have a tendency to redden'. Hairs angled slightly downwards on all four sides of the stems.


17th Sept 2009, Crop Field, Rufford, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Nettle-like leaves.


9th Oct 2018, arable field, Croston, Preston, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
A larger specimen showing several opposing branches which are angled upwards at about 45° from the main stem.


8th July 2019, Brabyns Park, Marple, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Another stunted specime, growing beside a path in a public park. The leaf veins have reddened on this only specimen which is barely 15cm high.


8th July 2019, Brabyns Park, Marple, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Stunted and sunstressed, hence red veins and stem branches.


24th Aug 2011, arable field, Rainford, Liverpool. Photo: © RWD
A much taller specimen crowded by other plants on a sloping embankment.


9th Oct 2018, arable field, Croston, Preston, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The flowers are large for a Hemp-nettle. The flowers have a long pale-cream coloured neck which tapers as it descends into the depths of the green sepal tube. The sepal tubes are green and have 5 long narrow tubes tapering teeth. Some flowers yet to pop out of their sepal tubes further down the stem. The lowest sepals are mostly empty.


24th Aug 2011, arable field, Rainford, Liverpool. Photo: © RWD
The veins on the longest and lowest and widest petal are reddish on the yellow parts and barely discernible on the lowest purple-coloured half. This central petal is rimmed with a white border at the bottom and two fold-over 'shirt-collars' - one each side. This petal is flanked by two side petals which are about half the length of the central petal and again yellow on the upper part (but are without any red veins) and white in the lower half. The topmost petal is cream coloured and forms a cap hanging above the lower parts of the flower.


24th Aug 2011, arable field, Rainford, Liverpool. Photo: © RWD
This flower is looking a bit like a Jack-in-the-Box which has just popped out of the sepal tube which has 5 long tapering sepal teeth. His white shirt-collars with red veins are slightly folded over at the top of each side of the top of the middle petal.


9th Oct 2018, arable field, Croston, Preston, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Side view of flower showing the long tapering tube as it emerges from the 5-toothed sepal tube. In this photo his shirt-collars are two half-round white small lips sticking vertically upwards. The large cream-coloured top petal (looking like a cap) has 4 white filaments just beneath, two shorter than the other two, each with pollen-bearing open anther. Mostly unseen is a single white stigma and style running up amongst the filaments, but can be made out on the bottom left flower.


9th Oct 2018, arable field, Croston, Preston, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
All four white filaments can hardly be seen against the white 4th petal at the top, but the open anthers with yellow pollen can clearly be seen. Also unseen in the white stigma and style.


9th Oct 2018, arable field, Croston, Preston, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The filaments with anthers are easily discernible in the hood, but the style is just discernible at the bottom only, nestled between the filaments.


9th Oct 2018, arable field, Croston, Preston, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The anthers are brown on the inside and have many short white things inside. The yellow pollen cannot be seen on this specimen, but the faintly green curving stigma at the top of the style can just be made out between upper 2 anthers and lower 2 anthers.


9th Oct 2018, arable field, Croston, Preston, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The golden yellow pollen within the brown anthers with white-hairy things. The stigma is pointed and just above the lower set of anthers. And on this photo, it does look like the shorter hairs on the hood and the longer hairs elsewhere on other parts of the flower are indeed glandular.


9th Oct 2018, arable field, Croston, Preston, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
At last the stigma and style can be discerned, the end looking like a narrowboat hook with both a prodding point and a curved hook.


9th Oct 2018, arable field, Croston, Preston, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Attached at the back of the anthers is a large white blob which is seldom seen which is attached to the filament.


9th Oct 2018, arable field, Croston, Preston, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The (empty) sepal cup which is streaked brown near the opening which has 5 long tapering teeth splayed out.


24th Aug 2011, arable field, Rainford, Liverpool. Photo: © RWD
The stems are square with rounded corners and slightly downwardly angled white hairs, especially on the reddish-green (equals brown) corners.


Some similarities to : Dead-Nettles, but the two roll-over collars at the junctions between the lower lips identifies Hemp-Nettles from Dead-Nettles.

This plant has been used as a medicinal herb, for instance as an expectorant, for pulmonary infections and for treating wounds and insect bites. It contains phenylpropanoids, iridoids, flavonoids, tannins and Stachydrine and saponins. The plant is poisonous and can cause paralysis. Plants belonging to the Dead-nettle family are a rich source of phenylpropanoid anti-oxidants.


  Galeopsis speciosa  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Lamiaceae  

Distribution
 family8Mint family8Dead-Nettle family8Lamiaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Galeopsis
Galeopsis
(Hemp-Nettles)

LARGE-FLOWERED HEMP-NETTLE

LARGE HEMP-NETTLE

Galeopsis speciosa

Mint / Dead-Nettle Family [Lamiaceae]  

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