Teucrium scorodonia

Woodland germander

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Lamiaceae
Genus:	Teucrium
Species:	T. scorodonia
Binomial name
*Teucrium scorodonia* L.

Teucrium scorodonia, common name the wood sage or woodland germander, is a perennial herb belonging to the genus Teucrium of the Lamiaceae family. It is native to Western Europe and Tunisia, cultivated in many places as an ornamental plant in gardens, and naturalized in several regions (New Zealand, Azores, and a few locales in North America).^[1]^[2]

Description

Teucrium scorodonia reaches on average 30–60 centimetres (12–24 in) of height. It is a hairy shrub with erect and branched stems. The leaves are petiolate, irregularly toothed, triangular-ovate to oblong shaped, lightly wrinkled. The inflorescence is composed by one-sided (all flowers "look" at the same side) pale green or yellowish flowers bearing four stamens with reddish or violet filaments. These flowers grow in the axils of the upper leaves and are hermaphrodite, tomentose and bilabiate but lack an upper lip, as all Teucrium ones. The flowering period extends from June through August. These plants are mainly pollinated by Hymenoptera species.

Gallery

Plant of Teucrium scorodonia

Inflorescence of T. scorodonia

Leaf of T. scorodonia

Habitat

These plants prefer sandy soils in woodland and acid heaths, at an altitude of 0–1,500 metres (0–4,921 ft) above sea level.

Subspecies

Teucrium scorodonia subsp. baeticum (Boiss. & Reut.) Tutin
Teucrium scorodonia subsp. euganeum (Vis.) Arcang

References

Pignatti S. - Flora d'Italia - Edagricole – 1982 Vol. II, pg. 443
Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Area. Teucrium scorodonia
Pink, A. - |Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - Gardening for the Million

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Teucrium scorodonia.