Lamium album

A member of the mint family, this is the White Dead Nettle. It has just started flowering in our local hedgerow bottoms and field fringes. Quite fragrant and with plenty of nectar it is an important food source for bees.
It is a herbaceous perennial plant and appears superficially similar to those of the Stinging nettle Urtica dioica but do not sting, hence the common name "dead nettle", which is what we as kids used to call them, showing how bold we were in grasping them and not feeling any pain.

The young leaves are edible, and can be used in salads or cooked as a vegetable, though I have never tried to eat them.
The plant is also used in herbal medicine for skin problems.

Because bees and especially bumble bees are attracted to the flowers which are a good source of early nectar and pollen - the plant is sometimes called the Bee Nettle.

In olden days a distillation of the flowers was reputed "to make the heart merry, to make a good colour in the face, and to make the vital spirits more fresh and lively."