Ground-ivy

Information on Ground-ivy

Common Name: Ground-ivy
Scientific Name: Glechoma hederacea
Irish Name: Athair lusa
Family Group: Lamiaceae
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Ground-ivy is not easily confused with other wild plants on this web site.


This is a slightly hairy, creeping little perennial of woodland, hedgerows and grassy places, sometimes regarded as an invasive weed.  Its flowers (15-25mm) are blue-violet and two-lipped, the lower being quite flat and lobed and they have some spots on the lower lip.  The flowers are borne in whorls arising from the leaf axis, usually all facing in the same direction. The stalked, kidney shaped leaves are toothed and downy and the plant is aromatic. It's a low-growing wildflower, only reaching to 25cm high. It flowers from March to September, is a native plant and belongs to the family Lamiaceae. 

I first identified this plant in Shillelagh, Co Wicklow in 1977 and photographed it in Ballitore, Co Kildare in 1999 and in Gibletstown, Co Wexford in 2005. 

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

This little plant has managed to colonise almost all of North America where it is known as 'Creeping Charlie'.  It was recommended by herbalists in the sixteenth century as a cure for humming or ringing in the ears.   

Ground-ivy
Ground-ivy
Ground-ivy