Red Dead Nettle
The plant on the bottom front of the pile in the photo below is from my yard and is called Red Dead Nettle, like the plant in the photo above.
The first time I saw this plant in my yard I became curious. Was I seeing the little plant that is so great for healing called “Heal All”? I looked up Heal all online and could see this little plant was obviously different . . . but still looked similar in my opinion. Plants can be so difficult to identify without a name to use for looking it up!! Finally I searched Heal All look alikes, and there was my little plant!
Red Dead Nettle is my little plant’s name. Yay! I found out what the plant was!!! –Unless you have tried to figure out what plants are when you or your friends don’t know, you have no idea how difficult it can be, so I was thrilled to have found out this plant’s name so easily– Now I could look up more about the plant in my yard. Is it edible? Is it medicinal? Turns out it is both.
Red Dead Nettle is not a true nettle and does not sting. That is why it is called “Dead nettle.” Red Dead Nettle is a member of the mint family. Some of the other common names for Red Dead Nettle are Purple Dead Nettle, Lavender Dead Nettle, Purple Archangel, and Velikdenche (according to Wikipedia).
Heal All
Below are two photos of Heal All. Another common name for Heal All is Self Heal. Heal All is also a member of the mint family. Heal All is both edible and medicinal.
When we were camping a couple summers ago, one of our party got a nasty infection under her big toenail when she was injured. Her toe was swelling and very painful. We made a poultice of Plantain (a drawing herb which brings the infection to the surface of the skin) and Heal All (good for any healing). She said the poultice stung like the dickens but she kept it on for awhile. By morning, the infection had come to the surface and could be cleaned out. One more application a couple days later, when her toe began swelling again, completed the cure!
Thank goodness for these gorgeous plants that voluntarily appear for our benefit! Plants are such a God given gift!
Michele Ballantyne 