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Lamiaceae
Bugle
Ajuga reptans
Healing wounds.
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Genus
- Ajuga
- Native to
- Europe, Caucasus, North Africa, Western Asia
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- perennial groundcover
- Height
- 0.3-0.5 ft
- Sunlight
- part shade to full shade
- Soil
- moist, any type
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- 3-10
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- Ajuga reptans spreads aggressively by horizontal stolons (runners), forming dense weed-suppressing mats that remain green year-round — making it one of the most effective low-maintenance groundcovers for shady spots.
- In medieval herbal medicine, bugle was renowned as a wound herb and styptic — the 16th-century herbalist John Gerard wrote that 'it serveth for all manner of wounds' and was superior to almost all other healing plants.
- The species epithet 'reptans' (creeping) distinguishes it from non-spreading Ajuga species; a single plant can send out dozens of stolons simultaneously and cover several square feet in a single growing season.
- Breeders have created cultivars with extraordinary foliage — deep chocolate-purple, metallic burgundy, and multicolored cream-pink-green — making it as valued for leaves as for flowers.
- The tiny blue flowers are magnets for early queen bumblebees emerging from hibernation, which are among the very few insects strong enough to force open the two-lipped corolla to access the nectar.
Color meanings
0
healing
1
resilience
2
protection