Skip to main content
This genus is accepted, and its native range is Old World.
Ajuga lupulina

[FTEA]

Lamiaceae (Labiatae), A.J. Paton, G. Bramley, O. Ryding, R.M. Polhill, Y.B. Harvey, M. Iwarsson, F. Willis, P.B. Phillipson, K. Balkwill, C.W. Lukhoba, D.F. Otieno, & R.M. Harley. Ajuga, C.W. Lukhoba. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2009

Morphology General Habit
Perennial, annual and biennial herbs (rarely subshrubs)
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence of dense, verticillate cymes, sometimes reduced to solitary flowers or merging to form a terminal, spiciform thyrse
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx actinomorphic or weakly zygomorphic (posterior lobe reduced), not accrescent, 5-lobed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla highly variable in colour, 2-lipped, marcescent, persisting as a sheath around fruit; posterior lip short, much shorter than anterior, 2-lobed, from which the sex organs emerge; anterior lip 3-lobed, median lobe very large, broadening distally and usually emarginate or bipartite
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 4, didynamous, usually slightly exserted; filaments fused to corolla for more than half their length, and covered with short hyaline hairs all over; anther thecae divergent to divaricate, confluent at dehiscence
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
Disk poorly to well developed, usually asymmetrical
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary shallowly 4-lobed; style subterminal, ± equalling filaments, bifid with equal or unequal lobes
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit usually a schizocarp of 4 nutlets (rarely drupaceous, 4-lobed); nutlets obovoid, reticulately foveolate, glabrous, with prominent lateral attachment-scar; endosperm present.
Distribution
Range: A genus of about 30 species, mostly tropical and subtropical in the Old World.

[LKGF]

Harley, R.M. et al. (2004). Labiatae, in The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants (K. Kubitzki, ed. in chief) VI: 167-275. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.

Morphology General Habit
Perennial, annual, and biennial herbs (rarely subshrubs)
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence of dense, verticillastrate cymes, sometimes reduced to solitary flowers or merging to form a terminal, spiciform or subcapitate thyrse
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx actinomorphic or weakly zygomorphic (posterior lobe reduced), not accrescent, 5-lobed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla highly variable in colour, 2-lipped or 1-lipped and then with only anterior lip present, marcescent, persisting as a sheath around fruit, posterior lip short or obsolescent, usually 2-lobed or retuse, anterior lip 3-lobed, median lobe very large,
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 4, didynamous, usually slightly exserted, thecae divergent to divaricate, confluent at dehiscence
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pollen
Pollen suprareticulate, columellae simple or branched
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary shallowly 4-lobed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Stigma
Stigma lobes equal to unequal
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
Disc poorly to well developed, usually asymmetrical
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit usually a schizocarp of 4 nutlets (rarely drupaceous, 4-lobed), nutlets oblate to obovoid, reticulately ridged to foveolate, usually glabrous, attachment-scar lateral, 0.55-0.85x as long as nutlet
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds Endosperm
Endosperm present.
Note
2n = 32 in most species (16, 24, 28, 30, 62, 64, ca. 86).  Forty to 50 species, paleotemperate, mostly Eurasian.
Distribution
Native to: Europe, Northern Africa, Macaronesia, West-Central Tropical Africa, Northeast Tropical Africa, East Tropical Africa, Southern Africa (doubtfully present in South Tropical Africa), Western Indian Ocean, Siberia, Russian Far East, Middle Asia, Ca

[LKGF]
Use
Ajuga reptans L. is used as an ornamental ground cover.

Native to:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Amur, Assam, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Central European Rus, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Corse, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, East Himalaya, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Free State, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hainan, Hungary, Iceland, India, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Kriti, Krym, Kuril Is., KwaZulu-Natal, Laos, Lebanon-Syria, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Madeira, Maluku, Manchuria, Morocco, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, Netherlands, New Guinea, New South Wales, North Caucasus, North European Russi, Northern Provinces, Northwest European R, Norway, Ogasawara-shoto, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Primorye, Qinghai, Queensland, Romania, Sakhalin, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Sinai, South Australia, South European Russi, Spain, Sudan, Sulawesi, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tasmania, Thailand, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Victoria, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Western Sahara, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaïre

Introduced into:

Alabama, Arkansas, British Columbia, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Irkutsk, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Newfoundland, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Venezuela, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Ajuga L. appears in other Kew resources:

First published in Sp. Pl.: 561 (1753)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R. (1995). World Checklist of Seed Plants 1(1, 2): 1-483, 1-529. MIM, Deurne.
  • Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Literature

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 246 (1754)
  • Kubitzki, Fam. Gen. Vasc. Pl. 7: 201 (2004)
  • Sp. Pl.: 561 (1753)

Lamiaceae Key Genus Fact Sheets

  • Abiga St.-Lag., Ann. Soc. Bot. Lyon 7: 85 (1880).
  • Ajuga L., Sp. Pl. 2: 561 (1753)
  • Bugula Mill., Gard. Dict. Abr. ed. 4 (1754).
  • Bulga Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 512 (1891).
  • Chamaepitys Hill, Brit. Herb.: 371 (1756).
  • Gen. Pl. ed. 5: 246 (1754).
  • Harley RM, Atkins S, Budantsev AL, Cantino PD, Conn BJ, Grayer R, Harley MM, de Kok RPJ, Krestovskaja T, Morales R, Paton AJ, Ryding O, and Upson T. 2004. Labiatae, in The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants (K. Kubitzki, ed. in chief) VI: 167-275. Sp
  • Moscharia Forssk., Fl. Aegypt.-Arab.: 158 (1775).
  • Phleboanthe Tausch, Flora 11: 322 (1828).
  • Rosenbachia Regel, Trudy Imp. S.-Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 9: 613 (1886).

Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Lamiaceae Key Genus Fact Sheets
Nina Davies, Gemma Bramley and Don Kirkup, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0