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Discover Nature (Missouri Department of Conservation)

Discover Nature: Dead Nettle

KBIA | By Kyle Felling
Published March 31, 2020 at 3:45 PM CDT
A cluster of tiny pink-purple flowers adorns a stalk of green-purple pyramidal leaves in a patch of sunlit dead nettle.
Dead nettle is an edible weed in the mint family. Though non-native to Missouri, its shallow, abundant roots provide benefits to soil health and rarely present a problem. Its flowers feed pollinators and offer a colorful sign of the spring season.

This week on Discover Nature, step outside and find small, blooming signs of spring in yards, gardens, and fallow fields.

   

 

Dead nettle (Lamium purpureum) grows in broad, carpeted colonies of clustered-purple flowers atop square, branched stems, and a massed canopy of green- to rose-purple leaves. 

 

Though non-native to Missouri and often regarded as a weed, dead nettle’s abundant roots help bind soil in early spring, and since the roots remain shallow, they rarely present a problem. 

 

Members of the mint family, and closely related to henbit, the purple blossoms of dead nettle can lift winter-weary spirits in humans and animals alike. Bees and other pollinators hurry to these mints in early spring, when they, too, are emerging from winter dormancy, in need of nectar.  

 

Signs of spring, fresh air, and time in nature can help us all through times of isolation, doubt, and worry. Take time this week to observe and appreciate beauty in nature near you. 

 

Learn more about dead nettle and other spring flowers with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s online field guide.

 

Discover Nature is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
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Arts and Culture Discover Nature
Kyle Felling
Kyle Felling’s work at KBIA spans more than three decades. In 2025, he became KBIA and KMUC's Station Manager. He began volunteering at the station while he was a Political Science student at the University of Missouri. After being hired as a full-time announcer, he served as the long-time local host of NPR’s All Things Considered on KBIA, and was Music Director for a number of years. Starting in 2010, Kyle became KBIA’s Program Director, overseeing on-air programming and operations while training and supervising the station’s on-air staff. During that period, KBIA regularly ranked among the top stations in the Columbia market, and among the most listened to stations in the country. He was instrumental in the launch of KBIA’s sister station, Classical 90.5 FM in 2015, and helped to build it into a strong community resource for classical music. Kyle has also worked as an instructor in the MU School of Journalism, training the next generation of journalists and strategic communicators. In his spare time, he enjoys playing competitive pinball, reading comic books and Joan Didion, watching the Kansas City Chiefs, and listening to Bruce Springsteen and the legendary E Street Band.
See stories by Kyle Felling
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