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Ajuga chamaepitys

Common name:	Ground Pine	Family:	Labiatae
Author:	(L.)Schreb.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	CentraL and souther Europe, including Britain, to N. Africa and E. Asia.
Habitat:	Very local in sandy and chalky arable fields and in open habitats in chalky grassland in southeastern England[4, 17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Teucrium chamaepitys[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Akkerzenegroen [D], European Ground Pine [H], Ground Pine [H], Groundpine [E], Pinillo [E], Yellow Bugle [H,B,P], Yer Selvisi [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	chamaepitys = dwarf pine
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Lamiales. Renamed to Lamiaceae -- Mint family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Europe Spain Turkey

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.15m by 0.15m . It is hardy to zone 6. It is in flower from May to September. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Meadow, Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Diuretic Emmenagogue Stimulant Women's complaints.

The leaves are diuretic, stimulant and emmenagogue[4]. The plant acts mainly on the urinary system and uterus[238]. It once had a high reputation in the treatment of rheumatism, dropsy, jaundice etc and has also proved of worth when used in conjunction with other herbs in the treatment of women's complaints[4]. The leaves are harvested in the summer and can be dried for later use[238].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Thrives in a poor dry soil in full sun[238]. Prefers a humus-rich moisture-retentive soil[200].
Plants are usually annual, but are sometimes short-lived perennials[200].
The whole plant smells of pine trees when crushed[17, 238].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ. Germination can be erratic[238].

Scent

Leaves: Crushed: The whole plant smells of pine trees when crushed.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Ajuga+chamaepitys
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