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Carpet Bugle

Ajuga reptans

Summary 6

Ajuga reptans, commonly known as bugle, blue bugle, bugleherb, bugleweed, carpetweed, carpet bungleweed, common bugle, is an herbaceous flowering plant native to Europe. It is invasive in parts of North America. Grown as a garden plant it provides useful groundcover. Numerous cultivars have been selected, of which 'Caitlin's Giant' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Description 7

This introduced perennial plant is 4-12" tall and unbranched, consisting of a rosette of leaves and a flowering stalk. The basal leaves are up to 3" long and 1" across. They are evergreen or semi-evergreen, obovate (spoon-shaped), and nearly hairless. Their margins are crenate and slightly undulate. The flowering stalk is 4-angled and slightly pubescent or hairy. The opposite leaves along this stalk are similar to the basal leaves, except that they are smaller in size and ovate. The flowers occur in a whorled spike along the upper half of the leafy stalk. They are produced in abundance and densely distributed along this spike. Each tubular flower is about 1/2–2/3" in length, consisting of a 2-lipped corolla and a green calyx with 5 teeth. The corolla is usually various shades of blue-violet, and less often pink or white. There are dark blue-violet lines that lead toward the throat of the corolla; they function as nectar guides. The upper lip of the corolla is truncated and very small, while the large lower lip has 3 rounded lobes. The middle lobe of the lower lip is notched at its tip and the largest in size. The outer surface of the corolla behind the lobes is conspicuously hairy; this causes the flower buds to appear hairy. The blooming period occurs during the spring and lasts about 2-3 weeks. Each flower is replaced by 4 nutlets that are oval-shaped and pitted across the surface. The root system consists of a crown of fibrous roots. Green stolons up to 12" long are produced from the rosette of basal leaves. They are largely naked, except for a few small leaves that are narrowly ovate. These stolons often form new plantlets by rooting at their tips. Carpet Bugle can reproduce by seeds or vegetatively by means of these stolons; it often forms colonies.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/photos/JCS-Ajuga-reptans-59927.JPG
  2. (c) Bastiaan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/84474308@N00/116057006
  3. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/PhotosMedium/JCS%20Ajuga%20reptans%2048362.JPG
  4. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/PhotosMedium/Ajuga%20reptans%2000003.JPG
  5. (c) Forest & Kim Starr, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/55442.jpg
  6. Adapted by Kate Wagner from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajuga_reptans
  7. (c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29446012

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