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Glechoma hederacea - L.

Ground Ivy

Author	L.	Botanical references	17
Family	Labiatae	Genus	Glechoma
Synonyms	Nepeta glechoma - Benth. Nepeta hederacea - (L.)Trevir.
Known Hazards	A report in the medicinal uses says the plant should be used with caution, no reason is given. Another report says that the plant might be toxic to horses[222].
Range	Most of Europe, including Britain, northern and western Asia to Japan.
Habitat	Damp waste ground, hedgerows and woodland margins[7].
Edibility Rating	2 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	3 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen Perennial growing to 0.2m by 1m.

The plant prefers medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats

Woodland Garden; Dappled Shade; Shady Edge; Ground Cover; Hedgerow;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Leaves.

Edible Uses: Condiment; Tea.

Young leaves - raw or cooked[9]. The leaves have a bitter flavour[5], they can be mixed into salads to add a slight aromatic tang[7]. They can also be cooked like spinach, added to soups etc or used as a flavouring[2, 183]. Available very early in the year. A herb tea is made from the fresh or dried leaves[2, 177, 183]. It is often used mixed with verbena leaves[7]. The herb has been added to beer in much the same way as hops in order to clear it and also to improve its flavour and keeping qualities[4, 183]. This species was the most common flavouring in beer prior to the use of hops from the 16th century onwards[238].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Anodyne; Antiphlogistic; Appetizer; Astringent; Digestive; Diuretic; Febrifuge; Miscellany; Pectoral; Stimulant; Tonic; Vermifuge.

Ground ivy is a safe and effective herb that is used to treat many problems involving the mucous membranes of the ear, nose, throat and digestive system[254]. A well-tolerated treatment it can be given to children to clear lingering catarrh and to treat chronic conditions such as glue ear and sinusitis[254]. Throat and chest problems, especially those due to excess catarrh, also benefit from this remedy[254]. The leaves and flowering stems are anodyne, antiphlogistic, appetizer, astringent, digestive, diuretic, febrifuge, pectoral, gently stimulant, tonic and vermifuge[4, 9, 21, 100, 147, 165, 178]. They are best harvested in May whilst still fresh[4], and are dried for later use[238]. The leaves are used in the treatment of hypersensitivity in children and are useful in the treatment of kidney diseases and indigestion[4, 9, 21, 100, 147, 165, 178]. Applied externally, the expressed juice speeds the healing of bruises and black eyes[4]. Use with caution[21].

Other Uses

Ground cover.

A good ground cover plant for shady places. It is rather vigorous though and can swamp smaller plants[197].

Cultivation details

Prefers a heavy soil and dappled shade[17, 31]. Prefers a moist well-drained soil, succeeding in sun or shade[188]. A very invasive plant, spreading freely at the roots[1, 31, 238]. A good bee plant[108].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information for this species but suggest sowing the seed in situ as soon as it is ripe, or in the spring. Division in spring or autumn[188]. Very easy, larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.

Links

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[31] Brown. Shade Plants for Garden and Woodland. 0

[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.

[108] International Bee Research Association. Garden Plants Valuable to Bees. International Bee Research Association. 1981
The title says it all.

[147] ? A Barefoot Doctors Manual. Running Press 0 ISBN 0-914294-92-X
A very readable herbal from China, combining some modern methods with traditional chinese methods.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism. 0
An excellent small herbal.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[178] Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 0
A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[197] Royal Horticultural Society. Ground Cover Plants. Cassells. 1989 ISBN 0-304-31089-1
A handy little booklet from the R.H.S.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

Glechoma hederacea

José Waizel Wed May 18 23:15:29 2005

Link: Loewenfeld, C. 1978. 35. Loewenfeld, C., y P. Back. 1978. Guía de las hierbas y especies. Ed. Omega, S. A., Barcelona, España.

Glechoma hederacea

David Beaulieu Sun Jan 8 2006

About Creeping Charlie Information on the history, botany and uses for creeping charlie.

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