Prunella vulgaris L.
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Authority
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
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Family
Lamiaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Perennial, nearly prostrate to suberect, 1–5 dm; lvs few, petiolate, entire or obscurely toothed, the blade lanceolate or elliptic to broadly ovate, 2–9 × 0.7–4 cm, the lower mostly broader and with more rounded base than the upper; spikes 2–5 × 1.5–2 cm, the depressed-ovate, abruptly short- acuminate bracts 1 cm, strongly ciliate; cal 7–10 mm, green or purple, the lips longer than the tube, the teeth spinulose-tipped; cor blue-violet (pink or white), 1–2 cm (or smaller in plants with reduced anthers), the tube equaling or surpassing the cal, the lips short; 2n=28, 32. Nearly cosmopolitan. The European var. vulgaris, intr. into disturbed sites in our range, tends to have relatively broad lvs, the middle cauline ones half as wide as long, with broadly rounded base. The native var. lanceolata (Barton) Fernald, in both disturbed and natural sites, has narrower lvs, the middle cauline ones a third as wide as long, with tapering base. Some conspicuously white-hirsute plants along the s. border of our range may prove to represent the Asiatic var. hispida Benth., or may be extreme forms of var. lanceolata, which they otherwise resemble.