YELLOW ARCHANGEL

Lamiastrum galeobdolon

Mint / Dead-Nettle Family [Lamiaceae]  

month8apr month8april month8may month8jun month8june

status
statusZnative
flower
flower8bicolour
flower
flower8yellow
inner
inner8orange
morph
morph8actino
petals
petalsZ2
type
typeZtieredwhorls
stem
stem8square
rarity
rarityZrare
(ssp. galeobdolon)

12th May 2010, Chesterfield Canal, Chesterfield. Photo: © RWD
The non-variegated form here is much harder to find than the garden variation with the silver splodges over the leaves. Square stems.


12th May 2010, Chesterfield Canal, Chesterfield. Photo: © RWD
Shortish, to a foot or so with pairs of nettle-like leaves up the stem and whorls of a few yellow flowers just above the leaves.


12th May 2010, Chesterfield Canal, Chesterfield. Photo: © RWD
The vertically bi-symmetric flowers emerge from long sepal tubes with long pointed teeth. The upper lip is a pale yellow and suspended just under the tip are four cups and a central spike, presumably a mechanism to dislodge pollen onto visiting insects.


12th May 2010, Chesterfield Canal, Chesterfield. Photo: © RWD
The lower lip of the flower is like a tongue with orange/red markings. Both are hairy.


12th May 2010, Chesterfield Canal, Chesterfield. Photo: © RWD
The structure within the upper lip of the flower: four inconspicuous white stamens travel up following the curve of the cowl until at the top where they end in 4 anthers. A here red-colored thinner style nestles between them ending in a downward pointing stigma. Compare with that of the variegated form below, which differs slightly.


GARDEN YELLOW ARCHANGEL 

Lamiastrum galeobdolon ssp. argentatum

status
statusZalien

THE GARDEN (VARIEGATED) FORM

10th May 2015, extinct rly line, Radcliffe, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
Spreads like wildfire along embankments and moist grassy places.


10th May 2015, extinct rly line, Radcliffe, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
Runners inter-connect them and help them invade waste land, or anywhere really, even gardens, which is where they usually escape from.


27th April 2006, Crag Vale, West Yorkshire. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
A shortish plant with mid-green nettle-like leaves, only some of which are splashed with greyish silverish markings.


27th April 2006, Crag Vale, West Yorkshire. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
Leaves with forwardly-directed curved teeth. Prominent whorls of light-yellow flowers up the square stem. Fewer flowers in a whorl than those of White Dead-Nettle, commonly six to eight.


17th April 2009, River Kent, Strickland, South Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
Leaves and square stems are hairy. Spreads horizontally by over-ground rooting runners which are up to a metre in length.


3rd May 2010, Prestwich Forest Pk, Gtr Mcr. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
Flowers are laterally bi-symmetric and two-lipped; the upper lip curved over the lower lip. Flowers emerge like a boxing glove from a five-pointed hairy, green sepal tube. Some sepal tubes have already lost their flowers and are empty.


27th April 2006, Crag Vale, West Yorkshire. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
Flowers form a neat whorls around the square stem, in tiers interspersed by a pair of opposite leaves. There are four lower parts to the flower. The innermost two lower lips of the flower are mottled with orange-coloured markings.


3rd May 2010, Prestwich Forest Pk, Gtr Mcr. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
The slightly-hairy sepal tubes have five long points.


7th May 2010, a garden in Walkden, Gtr Mcr. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
The tiger-striped lower tongue is quite convoluted.


7th May 2010, a garden in Walkden, Gtr Mcr. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
The tiger-striped tongue between the two lower lobes.


7th May 2010, a garden in Walkden, Gtr Mcr. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
The upper cowl contains not only four protrusions, but also a downwardly pointing tip like the sword of Damocles, that being the style/stigma.


11th April 2007, Edgeworth, Lancashire. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
The single upper part of the flower forms a hairy cowl over the lower parts, which are divided into two outer parts, and one inner part which has tiger-striped orange markings. Slightly ridged, shortly hairy square stem.


3rd May 2010, Prestwich Forest Pk, Gtr Mcr. Photo: © RWD
(Variegated form)
There are four brownish anthers poised within the roof of the cowl of the upper lip. Visiting insects will transfer the pollen from these to other similar flowers, thus pollinating them. A single thinner style nestles between the two pairs of stamens each side.


Uniquely identifiable characteristics: It is just a question of which of the three Yellow archangels it is.

Distinguishing Feature : A yellow dead-nettle.

Some similarities to: White Dead-Nettle. But Yellow Archangel has yellow flowers; White Dead-nettle has white ones.

No relation to: Garden Angelica (Angelica archangelica) [scientific name similar to common name of Yellow Archangel.

Three subspecies are known: Lamiastrum galeobdolon subsp. montanum , Lamiastrum galeobdolon subsp. galeobdolon (Both also commonly known as 'Yellow Archangel'), and Lamiastrum galeobdolon subsp. argentatum (Garden Yellow Archangel).

The garden (variegated) form is becoming a promiscuous weed, which is rapidly spreading, helped in part by the over-ground runners which root at the nodes and are up to a metre in length. The argentatum in the specific epithet (the second part of the binomial name) refers to the silvery-coloured leaves of this variegated form. Only some of the leaves of the variegated form have these silvery markings.


  Lamiastrum galeobdolon  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Lamiaceae  

Distribution
 family8Mint / Dead-Nettle family8Lamiaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Lamiastrum
Lamiastrum
(Yellow Archangel)

YELLOW ARCHANGEL

Lamiastrum galeobdolon

Mint / Dead-Nettle Family [Lamiaceae]  

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