Wall germander
Teucrium chamaedrys
Family · Lamiaceae · Irritating
The low mint with small leaves cut like a miniature oak's, which is exactly where its name comes from in every language. It grows on walls and limestone banks and flowers pink into September.
Walls and rocks · Scrubland · Uplands · Roadsides and waste ground
Also known asgermander
How to tell it
Small leaves, glossy above, with a margin cut into round lobes, just like miniature oak leaves. Purplish pink flowers with no upper lip, which is the genus mark. A four-angled stem, creeping at the base.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
A bitter plant with a long tradition in European liqueurs and infusions. A note that stays on the sheet: prolonged use in capsules has been linked to liver injury and is restricted in several countries. Not a plant for sustained consumption.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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