Henbit ( Lamium amplexicaule ) has taken over my garden at the minute . The little purplish pinkish flowers are pretty and it ’s squeamish to have that bit of color while wait for other thing to stock , but does it have to groweverywhere ? I pull one , and three more appear in its lieu .
( This Emily Price Post was in the first place published Spring 2017 , but I accidentally moved it to drafts and had to republish it . During the fresh publish day of the month of July , henbit was definitely not everywhere in my garden and had died back for the hot season.)Henbit does have one save up seemliness — it ’s edible . It ’s not a Mary Jane that I wipe out a lot of , as it ’s a flake too “ dark-green ” for my tastes . I favour it in littler amount of money , like how we use herbs , rather than larger amounts like vegetables . But at least I know that if the worst happened and my spring leafy crops conk out , henbit is an option . I ’ve finely hack Lamium amplexicaule and mingle it with other greens in a frittata , and soon I plan to try thishenbit pesto recipefrom The Foraged Foodie .
Henbit is an annual that grow in late winter or early spring . It ’s in the mint family , but it does n’t taste like mint . Its flavour is more similar to kale . The stem turn , leaves , and flowers can all be eaten raw or cooked , but older stems can be tough . The lump of leaves are also chewy , so I favor them exquisitely hack or pureed , like in pesto or a smoothie . There is n’t much nutritionary information useable for henbit . Unlike your foodstuff store greens , it ’s not well study . It ’s say to be high in iron and various vitamins . In general , wild greens are more nutritious than their crop relatives .
Henbit, before and after it blooms
How to Identify Henbit
Henbit , before and after it bloom
The easiest time to identify henbit is after it blooms . The flowers are tiny and may be pinkish , purple , or reddish . Minuscule pink or purple hair are on the upper part of the heyday and humble dots are on the gloomy part . My sis and I used to call them bunny heyday because we thought they look like hare if you turned them upside down .
Lamium amplexicaule flowers
Henbit, before and after it blooms
The stem are satisfying and green , turning shades of purple , red , or brown as they age . Multiple stems produce from a single taproot and may grow up to 18″ tall . They typically put up upright but may flop over and grow more parallel to the ground .
Henbit – the whole plant
Leaves grow opposite each other and are a little hairy . The upper farewell clasp the theme while lower leaves are attach by a petiole ( humble stalk ) . The leafage are round in shape , and the margins ( boundary ) are scalloped with rounded teeth . The veins of the upper leaves are recess , give a wrinkled appearance . The upper and lower farewell are typically spaced a honest aloofness aside .
Henbit flowers
Henbit , just before the flower form .
There are no poisonous lookalikes to henbit . It ’s sometimes confused with over-embellished dead nettle or ground ivy , both of which are eatable . As always with risky edibles , never eat something unless you ’re 100 % sure of its identification . Also , eat just a couple of bite the first time you try a new weed to check that you do n’t have a reaction . People can have reactions to dead anything , even if they ’re not prone to food for thought allergies .
Need more picture or information about Lamium amplexicaule ? There are articles atEat the WeedsandEdible Wild Foods . Can you find Henbit around your home ? Have you tasted it yet?More wild edibles at The King ’s Table : Sheep Sorrel
Henbit – the whole plant
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Henbit, just before the flowers form.
