This plant puzzled me when I first discovered it in a field a few hundred metres from home. One year there would be dozens of plants the next none at all. Then it dawned on me that this was a typical arable weed which needs to be in the soil for a while and then exposed to the elements (probably light) by ploughing. Sure enough whenever the soil is ploughed or moved in any way it appears in August. If it the field is left fallow then at most one plant will appear. As the name suggests it is a member of the nettle family but the beautifully marked flowers make it one of the treats of high summer botanising.
Potato field, Helsby, Cheshire 11th August 2005
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Added on 11th August 2005