Glechoma
Encyclopedia
Glechoma is a genus
of 12 species of flowering plant
s in the mint family
.
It is native to much of Europe
and Asia
. The stems root at the nodes, often forming extensive mats ot coarsely toothed, rounded or broadly oval, soft hairy leaves. The ascending shoots bear pairs of small, tubular, 2-lipped flowers in the leaf axils in summer. The genus is closely related to the genera Nepeta
, Stachys
and Prunella
.
Selected species:
s, but can be very invasive
and should be kept away from heavily planted beds. They are quite suitable for containers and hanging baskets.
Glechoma species are used as food plants by the larva
e of some Lepidoptera
species including Coleophora albitarsella
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of 12 species of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s in the mint family
Lamiaceae
The mints, taxonomically known as Lamiaceae or Labiatae, are a family of flowering plants. They have traditionally been considered closely related to Verbenaceae, but in the 1990s, phylogenetic studies suggested that many genera classified in Verbenaceae belong instead in Lamiaceae...
.
It is native to much of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. The stems root at the nodes, often forming extensive mats ot coarsely toothed, rounded or broadly oval, soft hairy leaves. The ascending shoots bear pairs of small, tubular, 2-lipped flowers in the leaf axils in summer. The genus is closely related to the genera Nepeta
Nepeta
Nepeta is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. The members of this group are known as catnip or catmint because of their effect on cats—the nepetalactone contained in nepeta binds to the olfactory receptors of cats, typically resulting in temporary euphoria...
, Stachys
Stachys
Stachys is one of the largest genera in the flowering plant family Lamiaceae. Estimates of the number of species in the genus vary from about 300, to about 450. The type species for the genus is Stachys sylvatica. Stachys is in the subfamily Lamioideae...
and Prunella
Prunella (plant)
Prunella is a genus of seven species of herbaceous plants in the family Lamiaceae, also known as self-heals, heal-all, or "allheal" for their use in herbal medicine.-Habitat:...
.
Selected species:
- Glechoma biondiana (Diels) C.Y.Wu & C.Chen
- Glechoma decolorans (Hemsl.) Turrill
- Glechoma grandis (A. Gray) KuprianovaLudmila KuprianovaLudmila Andreyevna Kuprianova was a Soviet palynologist and Chairman of the Palynological Section of the All-Union Botanical Society . Her scientific career spanned more than 50 years, most of it associated with the Komarov Botanical Institute in Leningrad...
- Glechoma hederaceaGlechoma hederaceaGlechoma hederacea is an aromatic, perennial, evergreen creeper of the mint family Lamiaceae. It is commonly known as Ground-ivy, gill-over-the-ground or Creeping Charlie. It has numerous medicinal uses, and is commonly used as a tasty salad green in many countries...
L. - ground-ivy or creeping charlie
- Glechoma hirsuta Waldst. & Kit.
- Glechoma longituba (Nakai) Kuprian.
- Glechoma nivalis (Benth.) Press
- Glechoma pharica (Prain) Turrill
- Glechoma serbica Halácsy & Wettst.
- Glechoma sinograndis C.Y.Wu
Cultivation
They prefer full sun or part-shade and moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil. Propagate from cuttings in late spring or by division in spring or autumn. They make good carpeting groundcoverGroundcover
Groundcover refers to any plant that grows over an area of ground, used to provide protection from erosion and drought, and to improve its aesthetic appearance .- Ecosystem :...
s, but can be very invasive
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
and should be kept away from heavily planted beds. They are quite suitable for containers and hanging baskets.
Glechoma species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
species including Coleophora albitarsella
Coleophora
Coleophora is a very large genus of moths of the family Coleophoridae. It contains some 1,350 described species. The genus is represented on all continents, but the majority are found in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions...
.