Nomenclature

Species name:

Ajuga iva   (L.) Schreb.

Author(s):

Carl von Linné
   Sweden, 1707-1778

General names:

French Ground Pine
Southern groundpine
Herb Eve
Musky Bugle

Maltese name:

Xantkura

Plant Family:

Lamiaceae / Labiatae   (Mint Family)

Name Derivation:

Ajuga = From the Greek a, "without" and the Latin jugum, "yoke," referring to the undivided calyx; a calyx consisting of a single structural unit of fused sepals. (Latin);
iva = An old feminine Latin name which was first used to for this plant, and later, the Genus Iva was created to group a number of Asteracea species which have a similar aroma to Ajuga iva. (Latin).

Synonyms:

Ajuga iva subsp. iva, Ajuga humilis, Ajuga moschata.

Plant Description

Life Cycle:

Perennial

Habitat:

Rocky wasteground, garigue rich in soil.

Sources in Malta:

Uncommon, few scattered specimen found in Clapham junction / Ghar il-Kbir area in Dingli, Wardija Ridge

Plant Height:

5-18cm

Flowering Time:

All year round, but mostly between Mar-Nov.

A short and small growing plant usually found as individual specimen or in few numbers as tufts (growing very close to each other). Their roots live all year round and makes the plant to be described as a perennial.

The herbaceous stem (with a woody base) is covered with long, fine, white hairs (villous) and forms opposite leaves. The leaves are linear-lanceaolate to linear-oblong and varies in either being entire, or with 2,4 or 6 opposite teeth-like lobes. The mature leaves measure around 24mm long and 6mm wide. They have a pleasant, lemon-like aromatic smell.

The flowers are seen in opposite pairs, because they grow from the axils of the upper leaf pairs. The actinomorphic calyx is a single campanulate (bell shaped) structure with 5 teeth at the rim. The teeth are shorter from the calyx tube. It is also veined and covered with white hair.

The flowers are both decorated by an aesthetic morphology and a sweet to aromatic smell. In Ajuga species, unlike most other mints, the corolla's upper lip is absent or reduced to an inconspicuous appendage and so makes the corolla look to have just one lip. The lip has 3 lobes, with the lateral ones being small, acute and pointed, and the central one is relatively much larger and spathulate (spoon shaped). The colour of this lower lip is mostly vivid purple (fuchsia) but further decorated by a yellow central stripe that becomes stronger in colour towards the mouth. The yellow part has several maroon spots as if they are foot-stones on a yellow pathway towards the mouth. The lateral lobes are also decorated by a central maroon stripe.

There are 4 stamens arranged in 2 parallel pairs (didynamous), one being shorter from the other by 2 mm. The filaments are pale green and hairy while the anthers are tiny and maroon in colour. Pollen yellow. The pistil has an ovary completely hidden at the base of the calyx and possess a long, white style that is long as the upper stamen pair. The stigma is divided into two small valves and coloured purple.

The fruit are 4 nutlets that resides in the calyx and barely visible. They are brown, finely wrinkled small structures that fall out from the calyxwithout any special seed dispersion mechanism.

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