Lamium galeobdolon, the yellow archangel, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae.

The common names archangel and dead-nettle have been in use for hundreds of years, dating back to at least the 16th century.

argentatum) from central Europe, is widely present as an invasive subspecies in several European countries outside of its native range and also in New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.

Lamium galeobdolon sensu lato is a perennial plant with square stems growing from 15 to 60 cm (6 to 24 in) tall.

Silvery-grey markings constituted merely separate splashes or flecks (small-sized in L. montanum and L. flavidum, larger in L. galeobdolon), not merged into continuous bands.

Thus, a combination of two distinct silvery flexuous bands together with a strong chocolate-maroon zone along the midrib in winter can be regarded as specific L. argentatum markers.In particular, a cultivar of subspecies flavidum known as 'Herman's Pride' has silver-spotted leaves,[15][additional citation(s) needed] but even though the markings are unlike those of subspecies argentatum, the two taxa are sometimes confused.

[22] Johann Jacob Dillenius referred to genus Galeobdolon in 1719, followed by Michel Adanson (1763), William Hudson (1778), and dozens of others.

[36] Based on nuclear DNA data, Lamium is monophyletic whether L. galeobdolon sensu lato is included or not.

Based on chloroplast DNA data, however, the same study found Lamium to be paraphyletic if L. galeobdolon is segregated to genus Lamiastrum.

[42] Both the generic name Lamium and the specific epithet galeobdolon were used by Pliny the Elder in the first century AD.

[47] Gerard believed the dead-nettles were so-named because their leaves resembled those of the true nettles in the family Urticaceae.

Both Dodoens and Gerard believed the name "archangel" referred to members of genus Lamium with "clusters of hooded flowers at the nodes rising along the stems like a choir of robed figures".

[44] Lamium galeobdolon sensu lato is native across Europe, western Asia, and portions of the Middle East.

It ranges from Ireland and Spain eastward across Europe as far as the West Siberian Plain and southeastward to Iran.

[2] Subspecies flavidum is native to the Alps, northern Italy, and the mountain ranges northeast of the Adriatic Sea.

[54] Since authoritative sources based in North America implicitly refer to Lamium galeobdolon sensu lato,[55][33][32][51][56] POWO's claim is unsubstantiated.

The list of U.S. states where Lamium galeobdolon sensu lato is said to occur varies dramatically depending on the source.

In New Zealand, it is listed by the 2020 National Pest Plant Accord and therefore banned from sale, propagation, and distribution throughout the country.

[65] In western England, it is found far from human habitations, which suggests it did not originate from garden waste and must therefore be spreading by other means.

In the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, the invasive entity is said to be a cultivar of subspecies montanum called 'variegatum' (also known as 'Florentinum').

[62][67][68][69] Based on morphological characters, number of chromosomes, pattern of geographical distribution, and phytochemistry, early botanists hypothesized that the tetraploid subsp.