Ajuga leucantha Lukhoba

Lamiaceae (Labiatae), A.J. Paton, G. Bramley, O. Ryding, R.M. Polhill, Y.B. Harvey, M. Iwarsson, F. Willis, P.B. Phillipson, K. Balkwill, C.W. Lukhoba, D.F. Otieno, & R.M. Harley. Ajuga, C.W. Lukhoba. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2009

Type

Type: Uganda, Kigezi District: Bukiribiri, Bufumbira, Purseglove 2112 (EA!, holo. K!, iso.)

Morphology General Habit

Perennial semi-creeping herb, 15–75 cm tall, rooting at the nodes

Morphology Stem

Stems 4-sided, glabrous to slightly hairy at base to increasingly pubescent towards the inflorescence

Morphology Leaves

Leaves petiolate; blades lanceolate-elliptic to ovate, 0.5–11 cm long, margins serrate (up to 9 teeth per side) to sometimes slightly double serrate (especially on the 3rd and 6th teeth from base), apex acute, base cuneate, slightly pubescent to pubescent, upper surface dirty green, veins prominent, lower surface more pubescent and lighter green than upper, leaves towards the base as stems ascend sometimes tinged with pink; petioles 1–2 cm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescence up to 11 cm long, the space between nodes so short that the verticils merge together at the tip; bracts more pointed than the leaves, ± 40 × 11 mm, entire or slightly serrate, petioles up to 3.5 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx actinomorphic, sometimes weakly 2-lipped, 4.5–6.5 mm long; lobes lanceolate to deltoid, pubescent, curving inwards at maturity

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla white, 5.5–11 mm long; tube 4–6 mm long, expanding at the base then closing over the nutlets with a thick mat of hairs at the base just above nutlets; posterior lip slightly emarginate, the anterior lip with 3 lobes the median emarginate, 3–5 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Stamens exserted

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Nutlets dark brown, oblong, 2 mm long, with reticulate ridges and further ridges within with tiny matted hairs inside the ridged hollows

Figures

Fig 2: 1, p 16

Ecology

Forest floor along deep shady paths, wet places in open grazed land or swampy pockets; 1600–2650 m

Conservation

Least concern; probably not threatened

Note

Robyns, loc. cit. (1943), rightly recognised the species found in the eastern part of Congo-Kinshasa and western Uganda as a species clearly distinct from A. integrifolia ( A. remota), but thought it was the same as a plant from Kilimanjaro attributed to forma alba by Gürke in P.O.A. C: 342 (1895). The type of that form no longer exists, but all the material seen from Kilimanjaro, including material distributed from Berlin labelled “var. alba”, is unmistakably A. integrifolia. A. leucantha is now known to occur in western Ethiopia as well.

Distribution

Flora districts: U2 Range: Congo-Kinshasa, Ethiopia