''Glechoma'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the mint family,

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil (herb), ba ...

, first described for modern science in 1753. It is distributed in northern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

with a

center of diversity A Vavilov center or center of origin is a geographical area where a group of organisms, either domesticated or wild, first developed its distinctive properties. Centers of origin were first identified in 1924 by Nikolai Vavilov. Vavilov posite ...

in Asia, especially

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. One species is naturalized in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Jang, T. and S. Hong. (2010)
Comparative pollen morphology of ''Glechoma'' and ''Marmoritis'' (Nepetinae, Lamiaceae).
''Journal of Systematics and Evolution'' 48(6), 464–73.Flora of China Vol. 17 Page 118 活血丹属 huo xue dan shu ''Glechoma'' Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 578. 1753.
/ref> These plants are perennial herbs with

stolon In biology, a stolon ( from Latin ''wikt:stolo, stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as a runner, is a horizontal connection between parts of an organism. It may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton. Typically, animal ...

s. The stems are prostrate or upright and bear leaf blades on long petioles. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s arising from the leaf axils have two to many flowers. The tubular corolla has two lobed lips, and is generally blue-violet. The genus is closely related to ''

Marmoritis ''Nepeta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. The genus name, from Latin (“catnip”), is reportedly in reference to Nepete, an ancient Etruscan city.

'' but closer still to '' Meehania'', and some species have in the past been moved between the latter genus and ''Glechoma''. ;Species: # ''

Glechoma biondiana ''Glechoma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, first described for modern science in 1753. It is distributed in northern Asia and Europe with a center of diversity in Asia, especially China. One species is naturalized ...

'' (Diels) C.Y.Wu & C.Chen – Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan # '' Glechoma grandis'' (A.Gray) Kuprianova – Japan, Taiwan, Jiangsu # ''

Glechoma hederacea ''Glechoma hederacea'' is an aromatic, perennial, evergreen creeper of the mint family Lamiaceae. It is commonly known as ground-ivy, gill-over-the-ground,Connecticut Invasive Plant List', Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, January ...

'' L. – ground-ivy, creeping charlie – much of Europe, much of Russia, Central Asia, Xinjiang; naturalized in New Zealand and North America # '' Glechoma hirsuta'' Waldst. & Kit. – eastern and southeastern Europe # '' Glechoma longituba'' (Nakai) Kuprian. – Vietnam, Korea, eastern + central China, Russian Far East (Amur, Primorye) # '' Glechoma × pannonica'' Borbás – eastern Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Baltic Republics ''(G. hederacea × G. hirsuta)'' # '' Glechoma sardoa'' Halácsy & Wettst. – Sardinia # '' Glechoma sinograndis'' C.Y.Wu – Yunnan

Etymology

''Glechoma'' is said to derive from the Greek name ''glechon'' for pennyroyal, ''Mentha pulegium''.

Ecology

Insects found on ''Glechoma'' include the

carpenter bee Carpenter bees are species in the genus ''Xylocopa'' of the subfamily Xylocopinae. The genus includes some 500 bees in 31 subgenera. The common name "carpenter bee" derives from their nesting behavior; nearly all species burrow into hard plant m ...

'' Xylocopa sinensis'', which robs nectar from ''G. longituba''.Zhang, Y. W., et al. (2007)
Nectar robbing of a carpenter bee and its effects on the reproductive fitness of ''Glechoma longituba'' (Lamiaceae).
''Plant Ecology'' 193(1), 1–13.

References

External links

Flora Europaea: ''Glechoma''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q604345 Lamiaceae Lamiaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus