Flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, Photographer Murray Fagg, near Cooma, NSW

Flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, Photographer Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, ACT

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, south coast, NSW

Plants. Australian Plant Image Index, Photographer Murray Fagg, near Forbes, NSW

Common Name

Australian Bugle, Austral Bugle

Family

Lamiaceae

Notes

Perennial forb to 30cm tall, somewhat scented.  Leaves basal and opposite each other, 3-15cm long, 8-40mm wide, flat, sparsely to densely hairy, toothed or lobed, the upper leaves sometimes entire, with blunt tips. Flowers blue to purple or violet, rarely pinkish, tubular, two-lipped, the upper lip inconspicuous, the lower lip 3-lobed, in loose whorls of 5-20 at the bases of paired leaves.

Description and photo in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales page 572

PlantNET description:   http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Ajuga~australis