Last year I had an unidentified weed in my garden, and am looking any bright
ideas as to what it is. No photo thou.

It looks like its in the nettle family, with very long spreading stems, that
as soon as they touch the ground they start rooting.
The flowers are pinky colour with the flower head being very nastely spikey.
The stems are also spikey. The seeds are in a nutlet group of 4.

What is it ??.
I thought it might be Large Flowered Hemp Nettle, but its flowers are all
pinky/purpley

In article , gray
writes
Last year I had an unidentified weed in my garden, and am looking any bright
ideas as to what it is. No photo thou.

It looks like its in the nettle family,

My guess it will be in the dead nettle family - labiates - you can tell
by the square stems. The 4-nutlet seed head is typical of this family.

with very long spreading stems, that
as soon as they touch the ground they start rooting.
The flowers are pinky colour with the flower head being very nastely spikey.
The stems are also spikey. The seeds are in a nutlet group of 4.

What is it ??.
I thought it might be Large Flowered Hemp Nettle, but its flowers are all
pinky/purpley

The cree[ping nature sounds very like hedge woundwort Stachys sylvatica,
but if it were that I think you would have mentioned its evil smell. The
flowers of hedge woundwort are a purply pink.

The fact that it reminds you of the large flowered hemp nettle suggests
it could be the common hemp nettle, Galeopsis tetrahit, which does have
pink flowers, and also the nastily spiky flowers.

rather poor pic on

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/e...flowers_common
_hemp-nettle.html


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/garden/

It looks similar, flowers and colour are about right, but it is very very
spikey almost like a gorse.

GB

"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...
In article , gray
writes
Last year I had an unidentified weed in my garden, and am looking any
bright
ideas as to what it is. No photo thou.

It looks like its in the nettle family,

My guess it will be in the dead nettle family - labiates - you can tell
by the square stems. The 4-nutlet seed head is typical of this family.

with very long spreading stems, that
as soon as they touch the ground they start rooting.
The flowers are pinky colour with the flower head being very nastely
spikey.
The stems are also spikey. The seeds are in a nutlet group of 4.

What is it ??.
I thought it might be Large Flowered Hemp Nettle, but its flowers are all
pinky/purpley

The cree[ping nature sounds very like hedge woundwort Stachys sylvatica,
but if it were that I think you would have mentioned its evil smell. The
flowers of hedge woundwort are a purply pink.

The fact that it reminds you of the large flowered hemp nettle suggests
it could be the common hemp nettle, Galeopsis tetrahit, which does have
pink flowers, and also the nastily spiky flowers.

rather poor pic on

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/e...flowers_common
_hemp-nettle.html


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/garden/

In article , gray
writes
It looks similar, flowers and colour are about right, but it is very very
spikey almost like a gorse.

OK, in that case, try Spiny restharrow, Ononis spinosa. Not a labiate,
but pea family, so it shouldn't have the square stem, and it should have
flowers like miniature sweet peas and leaves trefoil, like a less
fulsome clover, and it has spines.


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/garden/

Ive found some dried stems, and they are square. It certainly is not a
restharrow, its more nettle.

GB

"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...
In article , gray
writes
It looks similar, flowers and colour are about right, but it is very very
spikey almost like a gorse.

OK, in that case, try Spiny restharrow, Ononis spinosa. Not a labiate,
but pea family, so it shouldn't have the square stem, and it should have
flowers like miniature sweet peas and leaves trefoil, like a less
fulsome clover, and it has spines.


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/garden/

In article , gray
writes
Ive found some dried stems, and they are square. It certainly is not a
restharrow, its more nettle.

OK - so we're back to a labiate. (ie dead nettle - nettle family doesn't
have many UK members, just pellitory of the wall and mind your own
business)

I presume it's died down for the winter? I must admit I'm running out of
ideas - suggest we resume when you've got some green growth and we can
start looking at leaf shape and so on.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/garden/