Dead nettle (lamium pupureum) is a broadleaf weed and is often confused with henbit (lamium amplexicaule) because of its purple flowers, and because everyone’s heard of henbit but nobody’s heard of dead nettle. Both are of the mint family and both have square stems. Dead nettle leaves are more triangular than henbit and the petioles of the lower leaves are longer than those of the upper leaves (a petiole is the stalk by which a leaf is attached to the stem.) Dead nettle is a winter annual that germinates in cooler weather – late fall and early spring – and can be found in dormant warm season grass like bermuda, St. Augustine and zoysia. Looks terrible in your nice, tan, dormant lawn! It spreads by seeds and is controlled by post-emergent weed control in our regular weed control applications.
Some people actually grow dead nettle in their gardens because of its pretty foliage and purple flowers. (We don’t recommend this, as it always gets out into the lawn.) Some people even eat it.