Ajuga nipponensis Makino

A folk remedy for traumatic injuries and inflammation caused by various diseases.

Herbs annual or biennial. Stems rarely prostrate or ascending, (8-)10-20 cm or more tall, villous or pilose, base purplish. Basal leaves absent or few; petiole 1-1.5 cm, to 2.5 cm in basal leaves, narrowly winged, sometimes purplish green; leaf blade obovate, broadly elliptic to subcircular or spatulate, 2-4.5 × 1.5-2.5 cm, sparsely strigose or pilose, base cuneate-decurrent, margin dentate to undulate-crenate, ciliate, apex obtuse. Verticillasters many flowered, apical ones in crowded terminal spikes; apical floral leaves bractlike, ovate to broadly lanceolate, 0.8-1.5 cm, margin entire to incised. Calyx campanulate, 3-5 mm, villous apically and on margin; teeth triangular, to 1/2 as long as calyx, apically acuminate. Corolla bluish or blue-purple, rarely whitish, with dark lines, tubular, (6-)8-11 mm, base slightly swollen, sparsely pubescent, villous annulate inside; upper lip straight, 2-lobed; middle lobe of lower lip flabellate, with apex truncate to emarginate, lateral lobes narrowly oblong. Nutlets areole to 3/5 as long as adaxial side of nutlet. Fl. Apr-Jun (E China), Dec-Mar (SW China), fr. Jan-May.

Fujian, Guangdong, Guangzi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea]

Field margins, wet areas on grasslands, sunny slopes, forests; 100-2300 m.

Ajuga decumbens Thunberg var. pallescens (Maximowicz) Handel-Mazzetti; A. genevensis Linnaeus var. pallescens Maximowicz; A. labordei Vaniot; A. matsumurana Kudo; A. nipponensis Makino var. pallescens (Maximowicz) C. Y. Wu & C. Chen; A. pallescens Price & Metcalf.