Creeping Charlie

Description:

This introduced perennial plant is usually 1' or less, branching frequently and forming a low-growing mat of stems and leaves across the ground. The 4-angled stems are prostrate to slightly ascending, and often form rootlets near the axils of the leaves when they touch the ground. The opposite leaves are about 1" long and across. They are green to purplish green, orbicular, and crenate along the margins. There is a flat indentation where the long petiole joins the base of a leaf. The pubescent upper surface has conspicuous palmate venation. Clusters of 1-3 tubular flowers develop from the leaf axils. These flowers are bluish violet to reddish purple and about ½" in length. Glechoma has culinary and medicinal uses which were the cause of its being imported to America by early European settlers. The fresh herb can be rinsed and steeped in hot water to create an herbal tea which is rich in vitamin C. It has a distinctive, mildly peppery flavor; it can be cooked as a pot herb, although it is most commonly eaten as a fresh salad green.

Habitat:

Glechoma hederacea is native to Europe and southwestern Asia but has been introduced to North America and is now common in most regions other than the Rocky Mountains. European settlers carried it around the world, and it has become a well established introduced and naturalized plant in a wide variety of localities.

Notes:

Spotted growing on a hillside in the mountains of Ellijay, GA.