Ontario Weeds: Henbit

Table of Contents

1. Name
2. Other Names
3. Family
4. General Description
   • Photos and Pictures
5. Stems and Roots
6. Flowers and Fruit
7. Habitat
8. Similar Species
9. Related Links

Name: Henbit, Lamium amplexicaule L.,

Other Names: lamier amplexicaule, pain de poule

Family: Mint Family (Labiatae)

General Description: Annual or winter annual, reproducing only by seed.

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Photos and Pictures

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Stems & Roots: Stems erect, 10-40cm (4-16in.) high, much-branched near the base, the branches spreading and becoming erect, square, finely hairy; leaves opposite (2 per node), lower ones long-stalked, broad, rounded to somewhat heart-shaped with coarsely lobed or irregularly toothed margins; upper leaves stalkless, broad-based, more or less clasping the stem.

Flowers & Fruit: Flowers in clusters in axils of these broad, stalkless, upper leaves; calyx small, tubular, 5-ribbed, with 5 small, sharp but soft teeth; corolla pinkish or purplish, 12-18mm (½-¾in.) long, of 5 united petals, irregular, tubular, 2-lipped at the end, the upper lip arched and with a tuft of hair on the top but not lobed, lower lip 2-lobed. Flowers in spring and early summer and occasionally again in late summer and autumn.

Habitat: Henbit occurs throughout southern Ontario in gardens, waste places and roadsides.

Similar Species: It is distinguished by its annual. erect branching habit, its square stems, its opposite leaves, the lower ones long-stalked, the upper ones stalkless, broad, and clasping the stem, and its clusters of pinkish to purplish flowers in the axils of the broad upper leaves.

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Related Links

... on general Weed topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control

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