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.
