Ground ivy is such a beautiful and useful herb that it is often overlooked. Even with its beautiful flowers, this plant produces mixed feelings from gardeners as it sometimes takes over where it is not wanted.
But hopefully, after reading this, you can be allowed to roam your permaculture plot, where you’ll be producing more than just your food and medicine.
Although it is only a small thing, it leaves a big impression on the eye when it is in bloom. If you currently see areas of land adorned with splashes of blue, and only a few inches of height in the grass, it’s probably ground ivy.
By knowing the key identifying characteristics of this plant, you will also find yourself identifying unknown relatives of the mint family when you encounter them in the wild or in zones 00-5.
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Description
Glechoma hederaceae is a perennial plant and another useful member of the large aromatic mint family. Its simple, kidney-shaped, dark green leaves are typically scalloped and slightly wavy at the margins, with essential oil glands on the underside. They are born on long petioles.
The upper surface of the leaf is covered with very small bristly hairs. The leaves can often have a slight purple hue, depending on the soil, the site, and the time of year. Ground ivy can be found in all but the harshest winters.
As with all plants in the mint family, the stems are square and bear opposite pairs of simple leaves. The stems of ground ivy are also covered in fine bristly hairs.
The main flowering season is from the end of March or April until May. As with all of its relatives, these distinctive flowers have two lips. You will usually see two or three appear from the leaf axil. The corolla tubes are quite long (approximately 10-12 mm). The flowers are great attractants for wildlife.
Superficially, at a glance, this plant could be confused with purple dead nettle (Lamium purpureum) and henbit dead nettle (Lamium amplexicaule). Both plants are related and are edible.
Only when in bloom will the ground ivy stand upright. I don’t often see ground ivy over 8 to 10 inches tall. This is because it grows in ‘runners’ (stems that grow horizontally, just above the soil surface that can produce roots and shoots from each node). This adaptation makes ground ivy an exceptional colonizer of bare soil and darker, shaded areas of the garden.
Mints employ a similar method of growth (Mentha) but their stems are just below the surface of the soil, with the same ability to root and shoot at each node.
Habitat
Ground ivy loves well-drained soil. It is happy growing in sun or shade and does very well in sandy soils where its trailing stems can quickly penetrate and colonize the soil, thus earning it the epithet invasive in many garden texts.
As with many things in gardening or foraging, terms and values are interchangeable, contentious, and always place-specific. One person’s invasive plant is another’s quick and effective ground cover!
It will often be seen growing in common ivy-like sites and among or near nettles. Also try to look for it on the edges of the field and in other grassy areas. May also be found on north sides of hedgerows and hedgerow banks in summer months, as well as in woods, especially clearings and woodland edges.
Parts used – Leaves and floral tips.
Harvest – Best is just before flowering, although leaves and flowers can be taken for medicinal or culinary use at any time.
Parts used – Leaves and floral tips.
Harvest – Best is just before flowering, although leaves and flowers can be taken for medicinal or culinary use at any time.
Key components – Amino acids, flavonol glycosides (including rutin, isoquercitrin). Flavone glycosides (including luteolin), beta-sitosterol, saponin, tannin, wax, volatile oil (including linalool, limonene, menthone, terpineol, alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, pulegone, rosmarinic acid.
Behavior – mild expectorant, anticatarrhal, vulnerary, diuretic, astringent.
Traditional uses – Many authors of herbs of old, such as Gerard, noted its use and action on mucous membranes, thus employing the plant as an expectorant and cure for colds. The scents of ground ivy really remind me of sage or thyme and mint. I love the scent, but not everyone likes them.
Their chemistry has been widely documented. The astringent activity is reportedly due to rosmarinic acid, while terpineol is known to be antiseptic. The astringent and anti-inflammatory actions of ground ivy are usually associated with the tannins and flavonoid fractions.
– Amino acids, flavonol glycosides (including rutin, isoquercitrin). Flavone glycosides (including luteolin), beta-sitosterol, saponin, tannin, wax, volatile oil (including linalool, limonene, menthone, terpineol, alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, pulegone, rosmarinic acid.
Behavior – mild expectorant, anticatarrhal, vulnerary, diuretic, astringent.
Traditional uses – Many authors of herbs of old, such as Gerard, noted its use and action on mucous membranes, thus employing the plant as an expectorant and cure for colds. The scents of ground ivy really remind me of sage or thyme and mint. I love the scent, but not everyone likes them.
Their chemistry has been widely documented. The astringent activity is reportedly due to rosmarinic acid, while terpineol is known to be antiseptic. The astringent and anti-inflammatory actions of ground ivy are usually associated with the tannins and flavonoid fractions.
Pulegone is the abortifacient agent responsible for the actions of Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) where it is found in concentrations of 1-2%. However, it is not present in this plant in high enough concentrations (0.03-0.06%) to be considered harmful.
The terpene-rich volatile oil of this plant indicates that it will irritate the mucous membranes of the stomach, as well as other parts of the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys. Irritation is not necessarily harmful because the CNS goes into overdrive to produce the responses we want.
Without a doubt, this plant is the best antidote I know of for nettle stings. Simply crush the leaves and rub the juice on the affected area. I have a hunch that the thicker components of the essential oil are partly responsible for relieving the urtication reaction.
As a food, ground ivy is also a welcome addition to many cakes, soups, or broths. Infill mixes are also enhanced with ground ivy. Flowers can be added to salads.
This plant would have been a very welcome green leaf to our ancestors, especially in the late winter to early spring period when fresh, new leaves are scarce. Its leaves are cooked like spinach and the volatile oil they contain lends a mild sage/mint flavor to dishes.
For the homebrewer, this plant is worth seeking out during the spring. It contributes an aromatic bitterness and also has well-known beer-clarifying abilities, which is why it was once popularly used.
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