Perennial with a short creeping rhizome. Stems few or solitary, ascending or erect, usually unbranched, 20-70 cm quadrangular, often purplish below, leafy, with a sparse indumentum of usually retrorse hispidulous hairs. Leaves ovate c. 4-9 x 2.5-5 cm, serrate, acute, cordate to truncate, with a thin indu-mentum of eglandular hairs; petiole up to 8 cm on basal leaves much less on upper leaves. Verticillasters 3-7, up to 20-flowered, distant. Bracts ± linear, 2-7 mm, ciliate. Calyx 10-15 mm long; tube tubular-campanulate with a ± thin eglandular indumentum; teeth triangular-linear to subulate, equal, ciliate-setulose, usually longer than the tube, wide-spreading in fruit. Corolla white, rarely light rose, 20-25 mm; upper lip ± densely velutinous or bearded, 8-10 mm, hooded; lower lip ± reflexed; tube ± sigmoid, gibbous at base, incompletely obliquely annulate. Stamens ± included under upper lip; thecae usually dark coloured, bearded. Style ± equally bifid. Nutlets c. 3-3.5 x 1.5-2 mm, with a short broad stipe, dark brown, basally trigonous, apically truncate-rounded, not mucilaginous on wetting.

Fl. Per.: June-September.

Type: Europe (LINN 733/8, 9,10 - microfiche!).

Distribution: Throughout Europe and Asia.

In Flora Iranica, Mennema uses the name Lamium album subsp. crinitum (Montb. & Auch. ex Benth.) Mennema, citing some species from Chitral and Swat under this name. On the other hand, Mill in Flora Turkey (7: 144. 1982) restricts Lamium crinitum, as a species, to Turkey, Azerbaidjan and possibly NW Iran. Although the calyx teeth in our material are generally clearly longer than the tube, a feature stressed by Mennema for his subsp. crinitum, I prefer to call our species Lamium album recognizing that it is a variable, especially in the length of the calyx teeth, and very widespread taxon. It usually grows in damp or shady places, up to 3500 m.