Glechoma hederacea

Ground ivy

Family: Lamiaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Ground ivy is a naturalized perennial found in northwestern California, Sierra Nevada foothills, central western California, and southern coastal California in disturbed, generally moist and shaded places at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces violet flowers with purple spots, typically 15 to 25 millimeters long in bisexual flowers. Growing with spreading to reflexed hairy stems 10 to 50 centimeters tall, it spreads along the ground with a trailing habit. Its leaves are round to kidney-shaped, approximately 1 to 2 centimeters wide, with petioles generally 1 to 2 centimeters long. The flower calyxes are fine and bristly, measuring 3 to 7 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Disturbed, generally moist, shaded places

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: NW, SNF, CW, SCo

California counties: Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Mendocino, Ventura, Tulare, Madera, Fresno, Shasta, Humboldt, Lake, Santa Clara, Butte, Sonoma, San Diego, Yolo, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Mariposa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.