Sweet woodland sage, said King of Troy

A bee is visiting the flowers of woodland germander which are currently blooming.

Teucrium scorodonia, common name the woodland germander or wood sage, is a perennial herb belonging to the genus Teucrium of the Lamiaceae family. It is native to Western Europe and Tunisia, cultivated in many places and naturalized in several regions (New Zealand, Azores, and a few locales in North America)

The inflorescence is composed by one-sided (all flowers "look" at the same side) pale green or yellowish flowers bearing four stamens with reddish or violet filaments. These flowers grow in the axils of the upper leaves and are hermaphrodite and bilabiate but lack an upper lip, as all Teucrium ones.

 

These plants prefer sandy soils in woodland and acid heaths.

The name of the genus Teucrium is believed to refer to King Teucer of Troy (Dioscorides 40 – 90 AD, a Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist,  says that this king was the first using it medicinally). The specific name, scorodonia, is derived from the Greek word for Garlic.