Teucrium scorodonia


Teucrium scorodonia, common name the woodland germander or wood sage, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Teucrium of the family Lamiaceae. It is native to Western Europe and Tunisia, but cultivated in many places as an ornamental plant in gardens, and naturalized in several regions.

Description

Teucrium scorodonia reaches on average of height. It is a hairy herbaceous perennial 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 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.

Subspecies

  • Teucrium scorodonia subsp. baeticum Tutin
  • Teucrium scorodonia subsp. euganeum Arcang

    Habitat

These plants prefer sandy soils in woodland and acid heaths, at an altitude of above sea level.