Variegated Yellow Archangel (not that one!)

I was privileged this week, after 7 weeks of lockdown, to be legitimately allowed out to undertake an ecological survey near Mirfield (VC63). A blissful day in an ancient woodland, and likely to be my one such experience this spring.

A pleasant surprise during the day was the discovery of a colony of the white-speckled native form of Yellow Archangel (Lamiastrum galeobdolon subsp. montanum var. variegatum). I only see this form rarely and then only in the best woodland habitats. The last time I found it, it was in a location where a previous recorder had identified the plant as the non-native subsp. argentatum, a controlled weed species. The possible consequences of reporting a native plant as a controlled weed are obviously best avoided.

It is a much more delicate species than the undesirable form. The leaves are generally smaller and less marked, with none of the chocolate-brown coloration over autumn to spring. It is also much less inclined to form a spreading carpet because it tends to die-back during the winter leaving only the growing tips. The general impression is of discrete plants rather than a cohesive mat of stems.