All plants /Ground /Henbit
Henbit
Lamium amplexicaule, mint family. Abundant in East and Central and West Texas.
At a glance
- What
- Leaves, stems, purple flowers
- How
- Raw in salads or wilted like spinach
- When
- The cool months, January to April
- Where
- Every winter lawn and fallow bed in Texas
- Value
- Greens when little else grows
Caution: Unsprayed ground only; winter lawns are heavily treated. Henbit is not a true dead-nettle stinger and has no dangerous look-alike, but confirm the square stem and clasping scalloped leaves.
Identification
A mint-family winter annual: square stems, scalloped leaves clasping the stem in tiers, tiny orchid-like purple flowers. It carpets bare winter ground.
In the kitchen
Mild, slightly grassy, one of the first fresh greens of the year. Toss young tops raw, or wilt handfuls into eggs and soups.
Photo: 池田正樹 (talk)masaki ikeda, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Forages well with
Forage safely. Never eat a wild plant on this site's word alone. Confirm identity with several sources, learn the look-alikes, and when in doubt, leave it in the ground.