Lamium amplexicaule

Henbit, Henbit

Family: Lamiaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Henbit is a naturalized annual herb found in California's Central Valley and coastal regions in disturbed sites and abandoned fields at elevations below 2,070 meters. Flowering from March to September, this plant produces red-purple flowers 16 to 20 millimeters long with an extended corolla tube. Growing with sprawling stems 10 to 40 centimeters tall, it spreads across the ground with a somewhat weak, branching habit. Its leaves are broadly ovate to round, clasping the stem, with scalloped or lobed edges and a truncate to heart-shaped base, typically measuring 1 to 2.5 centimeters wide. The distinctive red-purple flowers and clasping leaves make this introduced plant easily recognizable in disturbed landscapes.

Habitat: Disturbed sites, abandoned fields

Bloom period: Mar-Sep

Elevation: < 2070 m

Bioregions: CA-FP

California counties: San Bernardino, Lassen, San Luis Obispo, Kern, Ventura, Riverside, Mariposa, Los Angeles, Napa, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, Butte, Mendocino, Modoc, Tuolumne, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Monterey, San Joaquin, Fresno, Orange, Siskiyou, San Francisco, Trinity, San Mateo, Stanislaus, Madera, Yolo, San Diego, Nevada, Merced, Placer, El Dorado, Calaveras, Amador, Colusa, Sutter, Lake, Solano, Humboldt, Tehama, Glenn, Shasta, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Cruz, Plumas, Sierra, Yuba, Mono, Inyo, San Benito

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.