674 



THE LABIATE FAMILY. 



XVIII. BUGLE. AJUGA. 



Low herbs, with purplish-blue or yellow flowers, in close whorls in 

 the upper axils, often forming terminal leafy spikes ; the corolla wither- 

 ing but remaining attached after flowering. Calyx 5-cleft. Corolla 

 with a distinct tube ; the upper lip very short, erect, and entire or 

 nearly so ; the lower lip longer and spreading, as in Germander. Sta- 

 mens in pairs, projecting beyond the upper lip or tooth of the corolla. 

 Nuts rough or wrinkled. 



A rather extensive genus, spread over Europe, Asia, Africa, and 

 Australia, but unknown in America, differing from Germander in the 

 tooth-like upper lip of the corolla, and still more in habit. 



Leaves entire or coarsely toothed. Flowers blue or ash- 

 coloured. 



Plant glabrous or slightly hairy, with creeping scions . . 1. Creeping B. 



Plant very hairy, without creeping scions 2. Erect B. 



Leaves deeply divided into linear lobes. Flowers yellow . . 3. Yellow B. 



1. Creeping Bugle. Ajuga reptans, Linn. (Fig. 811.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 489, and A. alpina, Eng. Bot. t. 477.) 



The whole plant is glabrous, or with a 

 few hairs chiefly amongst the flowers. 

 The short stock emits creeping scions 

 and a tuft of radical leaves, which are 

 obovate, 1 to 2 inches long, entire or 

 broadly crenate, and narrowed into a 

 stalk nearly as long as the leaf. Flower- 

 ing stems erect, often only 2 or 3 inches, 

 rarely near a foot high, with short, ovate 

 or obovate, nearly sessile leaves ; the 

 upper ones often coloured, small, and 

 bract-like. Flowers in close whorls in 

 the axils of nearly all the leaves ; the 

 upper ones forming a cylindrical leafy 

 spike. Corolla blue, or rarely flesh- 

 colour or white, with the tube much 

 longer than the calyx. 



In pastures and woods, throughout 

 Europe and western Asia, except the 

 extreme north. Abundant in Britain. Fl. spring and early summer. 



Fig. 811. 



2. Erect Bugle. Ajuga genevensis, Linn. (Fig. 812.) 

 (A. pyramid alls, Eng. Bot. t. 1270.) 

 Much like the creeping B., but has no creeping scions, and is much 



