Musky bugle
Ajuga iva
Family · Lamiaceae · Irritating
The creeping hairy plant of dry soils with a strong strange musk or pine smell, and pink or yellow flowers hidden among narrow leaves.
Scrubland · Fields and pasture · Roadsides and waste ground · Uplands
Also known assouthern bugle, herb ivy
How to tell it
A prostrate plant ten to thirty centimetres, covered in long white hairs. Narrow, elongated leaves with two or three teeth near the tip. Solitary flowers at the axils, purple-pink or yellow, with the upper lip practically absent, which is the genus's mark. A strong scent that lingers on the hands.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
Traditional medicinal use deeply rooted in North Africa and southern Spain, for fever and diabetes. Traditional use, in the past, and there are reports of liver toxicity with prolonged use, as in related plants.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.