Glechoma hederacea (Ground Ivy): blue Minnesota wildflowers

Glechoma hederacea (Ground Ivy)

Plant Info
Also known as:	Creeping Charlie, Gill-over-the-Ground
Genus:	Glechoma
Family:	Lamiaceae (Mint)
Life cycle:	perennial
Origin:	Eurasia
Habitat:	shade, part sun; thickets, disturbed soil, lawns
Bloom season:	spring, summer
Plant height:	5 to 8 inches
USDA PLANTS database:	Minnesota county distribution map
Spotted in Ramsey County at:	Long Lake Regional Park Vadnais/Snail Lake Regional Park

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Detailed Information

Flower:: irregular, ½ to ¾-inch long flowers, light blue to deep purple-blue or reddish-purple. 2 to 4 flowers on short stalks arise from the leaf axils on the upper part of the plant.
Leaves and stem:: Leaves are round or kidney-shaped with scalloped edges, to 1½ inches wide and 1 inch long on stems about 1 inch long. Leaves have deep veins and are sometimes tinged with purple. Like all members of the Mint family, the stem is square and leaf attachment is opposite.
Notes:: Ground Ivy usually grows in large mats, is aggressive and hard to get rid of. My yard is infested with the stuff.

More photos

All photos taken at Long Lake Regional Park, New Brighton, MN April-May, 2007

Comments

Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?

Posted by: Natasha in Forest Lake
on: 2010-01-13 19:34:08

This one crept into my backyard a couple years ago, and suddenly last season I noticed it had pretty much taken over the whole thing! I live by water, so was pulling by hand. What a tough job, and I was only able to keep up enough to contain it and keep it from spreading further.

I see it a lot in Forest Lake yards. There's a local compost here, where you can take the nice black dirt after it's been through the process. I'm sure people dump it, and it ends up in others' back yards.

I remember the smell of this plant from playing in my grandma's backyard in Owatonna when I was a kid.

Posted by: Portia in Elk River
on: 2010-07-27 12:08:21

We had this stuff all around the edges of our yard at our old house in Elk River, but we called it creeping charlie. My siters would bring me big handfuls to braid into fairy crowns.