Ajuga integrifolia Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don

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: Nepal, Hamilton s.n. (BM!, holo.)

Morphology General Habit

Perennial much-branched spreading sometimes rhizomatous herb, 5–20 cm tall, sometimes rooting at the lower nodes

Morphology Stem

Stems erect or decumbent at base then ascending, slightly pubescent at the base, becoming denser towards the inflorescence with long retrorse white hairs; base of stem may be coloured pinkish blue

Morphology Leaves

Leaves spreading, subsessile to shortly petiolate; blades oblanceolate to elliptic, 3.5–11 × 0.5–4 cm, margin serrate towards the apex and more or less entire towards the base, with 2–6 teeth per side, to crenate, apex acute to rounded, base cuneate, sparingly pubescent to pubescent with antrorse hairs, upper leaf surface greyish green, slightly pubescent and veins mostly undetectable, the lower surface more pubescent and lighter green than upper surface; veins visible; leaves and petioles near the base of the stem may be tinged pinkish; petiole 0–5 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescence up to 25 cm long, lax at the base, becoming congested towards the apex; verticils with 8–15 flowers; bracts lanceolate, partially serrate to entire; pedicels 0–0.5 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx actinomorphic, sometimes weakly 2-lipped, 4–6.5 mm long; lobes lanceolate to deltoid, pubescent, curving inwards at maturity

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla white to pale pink, lilac-blue, blue, mauve to violet, 6–13 mm long; tube 4–9 mm long, slightly curved and widened at the base, and splitting into 4 flaps as the fruit matures, with a mat of hairs near the base in a thick line just above nutlets; posterior lip with lobe emarginate; anterior lip up to 4 mm long; lobes with scattered hairs

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Stamens exserted

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Nutlets dark brown, obovoid, 2–3 mm long, reticulately ridged, glabrous

Figures

Fig 2: 2-4, p 16

Ecology

In wooded grassland, forest openings, open grassland in wet zones, in grassland subject to seasonal burning; 1100–3400 m

Conservation

Least concern

Note

The name A. integrifolia has been frequently overlooked in the past. African material has often been referred to A. remota. That name was reduced to a synonym of A. bracteosa by J.D. Hooker in the Flora of British India in 1885 and has not been used in the Himalayan region since. The African material is not identical to that from the Himalaya. There are minor differences evident in the indumentum, shorter and more appressed in Ethiopian material at least, and the arrangement of the flowers, which do not run into terminal inflorescences with leafy bracts (as the name bracteosa implies), but occur in the axils of leaves not differing much up the stem. However the differences are scarcely of specific merit and it seems more practical to include all forms of this complex under A. integrifolia. Codd in F.S.A. 28 (4): 7 (1985) retains the material from South Africa as a separate species, A. ophrydis Benth., noting that it is very close to the East African, Ethiopian and Indian material, but has a less dense tomentum on the leaves. It might also be included in an enlarged A. integrifolia, but there is a large gap in the distribution from southern Tanzania to the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa, so it seems inadvisable to include it at this stage.

Distribution

Range: Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the Himalayan region Flora districts: U1 U2 U3 U4 K1 K3 K4 K5 K6 T1 T2 T4 T6 T7