Table of contents
The golden deadnettle ( Lamium galeobdolon ) is a wild food plant that is easy to grow in the garden. Whether raw or cooked, golden deadnettles are tasty and versatile in wild plant recipes.
Golden nettle - Use in the kitchen:
Is the common golden nettle edible? The wild plant has a delicate, spicy taste that is reminiscent of porcini mushrooms. All parts of the so-called yellow deadnettle (also: common deadnettle, yellow nettle) are edible, both raw and cooked.
Soft shoots and tender leaves (February-July) can be used for salads, as raw food, for pestos or green smoothies. Cooked, the leaves taste great as wild spinach or (soup) vegetables, in risotto and in mushroom pans. Baked, they refine vegan vegetable lasagne or patties. Dead nettle leaves harmonize excellently with saffron .
The yellow nettle flowers (April-October) are suitable for desserts, sweet dishes, vegan wild herb butter, spreads or as edible decoration.
The young, mushroom-aromatic roots (especially in autumn) can be used in a similar way to black salsify , e.g. as a raw snack, in salads or chopped into vegetable soups. Fresh sprouts can be grown from the dried seeds (end of May - September) in winter.
Vegan golden deadnettle recipe for a dip:
Ingredients (for two people): 50 g macadamia nuts , ground; 50 g fresh golden deadnettle leaves (raw or organic); 200 g fresh peas ; juice of ½ orange ; ½ teaspoon lemon juice ; salt ;pepper ; golden deadnettle flowers for decoration.
Preparation: Puree the nuts, raw leaves and peas together with the orange and lemon juice until a creamy mixture is formed. Add a little more or less orange juice as needed. Finally, season the vegan dip with salt and pepper and sprinkle it with the decorative nettle flowers.
Recipe for (fresh) golden nettle tea:
To make a tea, pour 1-2 teaspoons of dried or fresh golden nettles (raw or organic) into about 150 ml of boiling drinking water and strain after 5 minutes. 1,2 For a cough-relieving effect, drink a cup several times a day (sweetened with honey ). 2 During pregnancy, golden dead nettle flowers can be combined with lemon balm and lady's mantle to make a feel-good tea. 3
Vegan golden nettle recipes or recipes with golden nettle can be found under the note: " Recipes that have the most of this ingredient ".
| Not only vegans or vegetarians should read this: Vegans often eat unhealthily. Avoidable nutritional mistakes . |
Purchasing - where to buy golden dead nettles?
Golden dead nettles can be bought as a dried herb with flowers. Pure flowers are rarer and more expensive. With a little luck, you can get golden dead nettle tea in pharmacies, drugstores, health food stores, organic shops, specialty stores or online. The products are usually not raw food quality (raw quality), sometimes they are organic quality.
Golden deadnettle is occasionally a component of organic bronchial teas, containing up to 4 g/100 g. The few products containing flower extracts include drops, tinctures, dietary supplements, hair care products or ointments.
Neither supermarkets such as Coop , Migros , Denner , Volg , Spar , Aldi , Lidl , Rewe , Edeka or Hofer nor the organic supermarkets Denn's Biomarkt and Alnatura currently offer products containing dead nettles or golden nettles. Likewise, we have not found any raw or dried golden nettles at weekly markets or directly from the farmer (subscription box / seasonal box / green box), neither in conventional nor in organic quality (organic).
Found in the wild - Season:
The common golden nettle is a perennial plant of many different shapes with a 20-60 cm high, sparsely hairy stem and above-ground runners. The oppositely arranged leaves are broadly ovate to lanceolate and coarsely toothed. 4
Is the deadnettle yellow? The genus of deadnettles ( Lamium ) is rich in species and includes, depending on the estimate, around 25-30 species. 6 The golden yellow or pale yellow flowers of the goldennettle are lip-shaped and appear to be whorled. The fruit (schizocarp) breaks down into four parts (clamations). 5
Well-known relatives of the golden nettle are the white deadnettle (white flowers), the purple deadnettle (young leaves are slightly purple, the flowers are violet) and the spotted deadnettle (mostly purple, rarely white flowers with a spotted lower lip).
The golden deadnettle is mainly found in locations such as open deciduous forests, forest edges, shrub bushes and tall herb meadows. The plants grow in shade or partial shade and prefer loose, deep, loamy and humus-rich soils with a neutral to moderately acidic pH value of 6-7. As a pioneer plant, the golden deadnettle is adaptable and often develops extensive populations (due to its ability to form runners). 4,5,6
Season: The main flowering period is from April to July. 5 In principle, the hardy and evergreen wild plant can be harvested all year round. In winter, only roots and leaves should be harvested and not shoots in order to protect the plant.
Storage:
Collected wild herbs are best wrapped in a wet kitchen towel and placed in a kitchen box or plastic bag. This way they will last for a few days in the fridge. Golden deadnettles are also suitable for drying. Be careful: flowers that are not dried sufficiently tend to mold quickly. Their color changes to a dirty gray or brownish color. 7
How can you make dead nettle tea yourself? To make golden nettle tea, you dry the fully developed flowers without the calyx gently in the shade on a cotton cloth or in a dehydrator. You can then store them in a tightly sealed container. Leaves and shoot tips can also be dried with the flowers and used as tea.
Ingredients - nutritional values - calories:
In addition to carbohydrates, proteins and fats, dead nettles contain approx. 0.4% flavonoids, iridoids, terpenes, phenylpropane, water-soluble polysaccharides, mucilage and phenolcarboxylic acids (including rosmarinic acid). 2,5,8 Saponins, betaines and tannins are also described; these ingredients require further verification. 2 Dead nettles contain at most traces of essential oils. 2,9
We do not have any information on the calorie content (kcal), vitamins and other nutrients of Lamium galeobdolon .
Health aspects - effects:
There are significantly fewer studies on the common golden nettle than on better studied, related species such as Lamium album L. (white deadnettle), L. purpureum L. (purple deadnettle) and L. maculatum L. (Spotted deadnettle). 14 However, it is assumed that the spectrum of effects is similar.
Dead nettles (available information on Lamium album ) have an astringent, anti-inflammatory (iridoids), anti-secretion, tissue-densifying, capillary permeability-inhibiting, antipruritic (mucous substances) and mild surface anesthetic effect. 8 In atopic dermatitis, the extracts have so far shown no advantage over placebo. 2
Tannin medicinal plants (astringents) cause surfaces to become denser, e.g. the intestinal mucosa. A so-called coagulation layer forms on injured or inflamed areas. This makes it difficult for toxic substances and pathogenic germs to penetrate. 8 Alternative tannin medicinal plants are blackberry leaves , raspberry leaves or lady's mantle.
Dangers - Intolerances - Side effects:
There are no known side effects, contraindications or interactions for dead nettle ( Lamium album ). 8
Golden deadnettle - use as a medicinal plant:
Recent scientific studies have examined the content of benzoxazinoids (BXs) in the golden deadnettle: Derivatives of various benzoxazinoids have been shown to have antimicrobial, anti-cancer and reproductive stimulating effects, among others. 14
Neither the white deadnettle ( Lamium album ) nor the yellow deadnettle ( Lamium galeobdolon ) have been reviewed by the HMPC ( Expert Committee of the European Medicines Agency ) or by the ESCOP ( Association of National European Societies for Phytotherapy ). 2
The following applies to Lamium album : According to Commission E ( Expert Commission for Herbal Medicines ), indications for the internal use of the flowers are catarrh of the upper respiratory tract and mild inflammation of the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat. They are used internally and externally for non-specific discharge (fluor albus) and externally for mild, superficial inflammations of the skin. 8 Commission E issued a negative monograph for nettle herb, 2 because the scientific findings were insufficient to prove its effectiveness (so-called zero monograph). 12
The average daily dose for Lamium album is 3 g for internal use and 5 g for external use. This can be infusions and preparations for ingestion and gargling, as well as rinses or sitz baths. 1.8 For wet compresses, pour 0.5 l of water over 50 g of dried dead-nettle flowers, strain after 2 minutes and allow the brew to cool. 1
Folk medicine - natural medicine:
In traditional medicine, dead nettles ( Lamium and Lamium album ) are used to loosen mucus in cases of catarrh and bronchitis, as well as gout, rheumatism and fever, and less frequently for gastrointestinal complaints and menopausal symptoms. Externally, compresses with boiled plants are used for skin swelling, itching, nail bed inflammation, bumps, gouty nodes and varicose veins. 2.5
Occurrence - Origin:
The original distribution area of the golden nettle extends from Europe to the Caucasus region. In the temperate latitudes of Europe and Asia, the wild plant is widespread and common almost everywhere. In North America and New Zealand, it is a neophyte. 4.10
Medicinal plants ( Lamium album ) are imported from Eastern Europe. 3
Cultivation in the garden or as a pot plant:
The golden nettle needs moist, well-drained soil in the sun or partial shade. Propagation takes place in autumn or spring by dividing - or by taking cuttings from non-flowering shoots in summer. When it is flowering, harvest the whole plant or pluck off the leaves individually. 11
In the garden, the plant is an easy-care and attractive ground cover. For extensive planting, use pre-grown potted plants that are planted 40 cm apart. Root barriers, occasional digging of the bed or cutting back long shoots prevent the plant from spreading like a weed. Older specimens can be fertilized with a little compost in the spring. If the dry weather is prolonged, the plants should be watered.
Animal protection - species protection - animal welfare:
In common parlance, golden nettles are sometimes called bee suckers, honey flowers or Sügerli, as the flowers are accessible to bees and offer them an attractive summer forage. Forage is the general term for food that bees bring in, i.e. nectar, pollen and honeydew. The nectar value is medium and the pollen value is low (scale: none, low, medium, high, very high). The partial fruits are usually spread by ants because of their appendages. 4 The so-called flower nettles or nettle flowers are also popular with butterflies.
Possible confusion:
The edible (small) species of the diverse species group of golden nettle ( Lamium galeobdolon agg.) can be confused with each other, as it is often difficult to distinguish them. 13 well-known, also edible species are: mountain golden nettle, pale yellow golden nettle or silver-leaved deadnettle or silver-leaved golden nettle (edible).
Confusion with stinging nettles, e.g. the large stinging nettle or the small stinging nettle , is noticeable by a burning sensation on the skin. The common golden nettle or golden dead nettle has no burning properties, 14 which is why it is popularly known as dead nettle 14 or tame nettle. Golden nettles are not related to stinging nettles, but their similar appearance has earned them the names 'nettles' or 'false stinging nettles'.
We are not aware of any real danger of confusion with poisonous doppelgangers.
General information:
The common golden nettle ( Lamium galeobdolon (L.) L.) is a plant species in the genus Lamium and belongs to the family Lamiaceae.
Alternative names:
Common alternative names for the common golden nettle are true golden nettle, golden deadnettle, golden nettle, golden deadnettle, golden deadnettle, mountain golden nettle, yellow nettle, yellow nettle, yellow deadnettle, common deadnettle, deadnettle, false stinging nettle, flower nettle, cuckoo nettle, dead nettle, tame nettle, nettle flowers, spoon flower, magic herb, Sügerli, Zuzeln, Honigblom or Bienensaug.
Incorrect spellings are Goldbessel, Goldnesel, Gildnessel, Gold Nessel, Goldnessek, Gold Essel or Goldnesse.
In English it is called golden deadnettle, yellow archangel, yellow deadnettle or dead-nettle.
Latin synonyms include Galeobdolon luteum Huds., Lamium luteum or Lamiastrum galeobdolon 9,10 .
Literature - Sources:
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