The past few months are likely to have suited this drought-tolerant plant that thrives in heat
T
he ground-pine (Ajuga chamaepitys) is found in only 32 sites in Britain and is endangered. Listed as one of 15 priority species in Bedfordshire, it sits alongside charismatic species such as the hazel dormouse, water vole, brown trout and nightingale. A member of the mint family, it is a primitive plant that appears in only three places in the county.
It was popular in Tudor times for its medicinal qualities and its smell of pine when crushed – hence its common name – although it is also called dwarf bugle, yellow bugle or bugleweed.
This year so far will probably have suited this plant, as it likes heat and is drought tolerant, growing in bare disturbed patches of ground. It looks like a miniature pine tree, and likes the chalky soils found in the Chilterns.
