野芝麻 ye zhi ma

Lamium album Linnaeus var. barbatum (Siebold & Zuccarini) Franchet & Savatier; L. barbatum var. glabrescens C. Y. Wu & Hsuan; L. barbatum var. hirsutum C. Y. Wu & Hsuan; L. barbatum var. rigidum C. Y. Wu & Hsuan.

Herbs perennial. Stems to 1 m, unbranched, erect, subglabrous or appressed hirtellous to hirsute. Petiole of basal leaf to 7 cm, apex shorter; basal leaf blade ovate to cordate, 4.5-8.5 × 3.5-5 cm, base cordate, apex caudate-acuminate; upper stem leaves ovate-lanceolate, herbaceous, margin incurved dentate-serrate, hirtellous. Verticillasters 4-14-flowered, in upper axils; bracts linear or filiform, 2-3 mm, ciliate. Calyx campanulate, 11-15 × 4-6 mm, subglabrous to sparsely strigose; teeth lanceolate-subulate, 7-10 mm, ciliate. Corolla white or yellowish, ca. 2 cm; tube ca. 2 mm wide near base, saccate, throat to 8 mm wide, partly hairy, hairy annulate near base inside; upper lip obovate or oblong, ca. 1.2 cm, margin ciliate, villous, apex rounded to emarginate; lower lip ca. 6 mm, middle lobe obreniform, 2-lobulate, base abruptly constricted; lateral lobes semicircular, ca. 0.5 mm, each with a needlelike marginal tooth. Anthers dark purple. Nutlets brownish, obovoid, apex truncate, base attenuate, ca. 3 × 1.8 mm. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Jul-Aug.

Roadsides, fields, waste areas on hillsides, streamsides; 800-2600 m. Anhui, Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea, Russia]

Lamium barbatum is often included in L. album, and their separation needs more detailed investigation.

Fl. USSR states that the corolla can be pinkish; this does not seem to have been recorded for Chinese material.