spotted dead-nettle, Lamium maculatum

Spotted dead-nettle is an old fashioned garden flower that has spread to the wild. The name may sound a little unpleasant, but they are nice little guys with their pink flowers and silvered leaves. They're apparently dead nettles because the old dried stems look prickly because of the pointed lobes on the calyxes. Lamium was the first genus described and named in the binomial system, so it has the honor of lending its name to its family; Lamiaceae. Spotted dead-nettle has been reported from AK, CT, DE, ID, IL, MA, MD, ME, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, NF, ON, and QC. Hidden Lake Garden, Lenawee Co MI, 5/15/13. Mint family, Menthaceae.