Ground pine  (Ajuga chamaepitys)

Learn about the scientific name of this species and how it fits into the tree of life at Nature Navigator.

Description

The ground pine is a small, greyish-green plant, which takes its name from its resemblance to a pine seedling. It also smells like its un-related namesake when the foliage is trampled or crushed. It bears yellow, red-dotted flowers in ones or twos up the stem and amongst the hairy, much divided three-lobed leaves.

It was a plant well known to Tudor herbalists who probably exploited the resins contained within the leaves. They also considered the ground pine and the similar cut-leaved germander, sometimes found growing nearby, to be male and female examples of the same species.

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