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Glechoma hederacea

(Gill-Over-The-Ground)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Alehoof, Creeping Charlie, Gill-Over-Ground, Gill-Over-The-Ground, Ground Ivy, Ground-Ivy, Groundivy, Haymaids, Hedgemaids

Common Names in Portuguese:

Bálsamo-Do-Campo, Hera-De-Canteiro

Common Names in Swedish:

Jordreva

Description

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Family Lamiaceae

Herbs, sometimes subshrubs or shrubs , annual or perennial , usually aromatic . Stems and branches usually 4-angled. Leaves opposite, rarely whorled or alternate, simple to pinnately dissected or compound , without stipules. Inflorescences generally compound, sometimes flowers solitary and axillary ; verticillasters 2- to many flowered, subtended by leaves or bracts. Flowers bisexual , zygomorphic, rarely subactinomorphic, bracteolate or not. Calyx persistent , 5-toothed, 2-lipped; upper lip 3-toothed or entire (deciduous in Scutellaria) ; lower lip 2- or 4-toothed; tube sometimes hairy annulate inside. Corolla limb usually 2-lipped; upper lip 2-lobed and lower 3-lobed, rarely upper lip entire and lower 4-lobed, also rarely limb (4- or) 5-lobed; tube hairy annulate inside. Stamens epipetalous , 4 or 2, free , rarely filaments connate , sometimes one staminodial; anther 1- or 2-celled, usually dehiscing longitudinally; disc persistent. Ovary superior, 2-celled and each cell 2-ovuled and style subterminal , or ovary 4-parted and each lobe 1-ovuled and style gynobasic (from bases of ovary lobes) with 2-cleft apex. Fruit usually 4 dry nutlets . Seeds with or without endosperm.

Approximately 3500 species in 220 genera, distributed worldwide, but mostly in the Mediterranean region and SW Asia. China has 807 species in 96 genera.[1]

Genus Glechoma

Herbs stoloniferous , perennial , gynodioecious or gynomonoecious . Stems ascending to prostrate . Leaves long petiolate , base cordate. Verticillasters axillary , 2-6-(to many) flowered. Calyx tubular to campanulate , slightly curved near throat , 15-veined, indistinctly 2-lipped, adaxial lip 3-toothed, abaxial lip 2-toothed. Corolla tubular, dilated at apex, 2-lipped; adaxial lip straight, emarginate or 2-lobed; abaxial lip spreading , 3-lobed. Stamens 4, anterior 2 inserted below lateral lobes of abaxial lip, posterior 2 inserted near throat below adaxial lip; filaments glabrous , undeveloped in pistillate flowers; anther cells oblong , parallel or divergent. Ovary glabrous. Style slender, apex subequally 2-cleft. Nutlets dark brown, oblong-ovoid, smooth or impressed-punctate, glabrous.

About eight species: Asia, Europe, cultivated in North and South America; five species in China.[2]

Physical Description

Species Glechoma hederacea

Stems 10-17 cm, ascending , base purplish, subglabrous, nodes retrorse strigose . Petiole of basal leaves 3.5-4 cm, 0.8-1.8 cm in upper leaves, with sparse, retrorse, minutely hooked hairs ; upper blade larger than basal one, reniform to reniform-orbicular, 0.8-1.3 × ca. 2 cm, glabrous except sometimes sparsely retrorse strigose on abaxial veins, margin ± coarsely crenate , apex rounded . Cymes 2-4-flowered, in verticillasters ; bracts and bracteoles subulate , ca. 1 mm. Calyx tubular , slightly curved at apex, 5-7 mm, hirtellous; teeth ovate , ca. 1 mm, apex acute, ciliate . Corolla purple, ca. 1 cm, hirtellous; tube ca. 7.5 mm, straight, funnelform ; upper lip straight, ca. 3 mm, 2-lobed, lobes oblong ; lower lip obliquely spreading , ca. 4 mm, middle lobe flabellate, apex emarginate ; lateral lobes ovate. Nutlets unknown. Fl. May. [source]

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Bloom Period: March, April, May. • Flower Color: lavender, violet

Size/Age/Growth

Size: under 6" tall.

Habitat

Valley grasslands.[3].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 3,108 meters (0 to 10,197 feet).[4]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 3-6" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 4.5 • Maximum pH: .1

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. Glechoma hederacea var. micrantha Moric.
  2. Glechoma hederacea var. parviflora (Benth.) House
  3. Nepeta glechoma Bentham.
  4. Nepeta hederacea (L.) Trevisan

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000.

Name verified on 27-Apr-1992 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 23-Aug-1994

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Glechoma

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 48 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

G. arvensis · G. biondiana · G. biondiana var. glabrescens · G. borealis · G. brevituba · G. bulgarica · G. cataria · G. complanata · G. decolorans · G. erecta · G. glutinosa · G. grandiflora · G. grandis · G. hederacaea · G. hederacea (Gill-Over-The-Ground) · G. hederaceae · G. hederacea 'Barry Yinger Variegated' · G. hederacea 'Dappled Light' (Dappled Light Glechoma) · G. hederacea f. rosea · G. hederacea L. var. hederacea L. (Gill-Over-The-Ground) · G. hederacea 'Little Crown' · G. hederacea 'Rosea' · G. hederacea 'Spot Check' (Variegated Gill-Over-The-Ground) · G. hederacea var. hederacea (Creeping Charlie) · G. hederacea var. Variegata (Variegata Variegated Gill-Over-The-Ground Glechoma Hederacea) · G. hederaceum · G. heterophylla · G. hindenburgiana · G. hindenburgianum · G. hindostana · G. hirsuta · G. hirsutum · G. lamiifolia · G. longicaulis · G. longituba · G. luchuensis · G. magna · G. marrubiastrum · G. micrantha (Groundivy) · G. nepetella · G. nivalis · G. pannonica · G. pharica · G. rotundifolia · G. sardoa · G. serbica · G. shikikunensis · G. variegata 'Rapunzel'

More Info

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Further Reading

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  • Wu Cheng-yih & Li Hsi-wen, eds. 1977. Labiatae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 65(2): 1-649, 66: 1-647.
  • Notes

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    Contributors

    Data Sources

    Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 17, 2007:

    Identifiers

    Footnotes

    1. Xi-wen Li & Ian C. Hedge "Lamiaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 17 Page 50. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
    2. "Glechoma". in Flora of China Vol. 17 Page 118. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
    3. "Glechoma hederacea". in Flora of China Vol. 17 Page 118. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
    4. Mean = 172.170 meters (564.862 feet), Standard Deviation = 276.860 based on 1,062 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
    Last Revised: 7/1/2009