''Ajuga australis'', commonly known as Austral bugle, is a herbaceous

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

native to Eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. First described by Robert Brown, it is occasionally seen in horticulture.

Classification

Scottish botanist Robert Brown described the Austral bugle in his 1810 work ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a flora of Australia written by botanist Robert Brown and published in 1810. Often referred to as ''Prodromus Flora Novae ...

''.

Description

It grows as a herbaceous shrub with a stem that bears flowers arising out of a loose rosette of leaves. Each leaf is obovate or elliptic and has a wedge-shaped base and is 3–12 cm long and 0.8–3.5 cm wide. The leaf is covered in fine hair, more prominent along the midrib. The purple flowers appear predominantly in spring but can appear at any time of year. The plants live for around two to three years. ''Ajuga australis'' grows on clay soils that are medium to high in nutrients, either on Wianamatta Shale, basalt, or alluvial quartzite. In the Sydney region it is found in grassy woodlands growing under narrow-leaved ironbark (''

Eucalyptus crebra ''Eucalyptus crebra'', commonly known as the narrow-leaved ironbark, narrow-leaved red ironbark or simply ironbark, and as muggago in the indigenous Dharawal language, is a species of small to medium-sized tree endemic to eastern Australia. It ha ...

''), forest red gum ('' E. tereticornis''), grey box ('' E. moluccana''), alongside kangaroo grass (''

Themeda triandra } ''Themeda triandra'' is a species of perennial tussock-forming grass widespread in Africa, Australia, Asia and the Pacific. In Australia it is commonly known as kangaroo grass and in East Africa and South Africa it is known as red grass and re ...

'') or open forest under black sally (''

Eucalyptus stellulata ''Eucalyptus stellulata'', commonly known as black sallee or black sally, is a species of small tree or a mallee that is endemic to higher altitude regions of south-eastern Australia. it has rough bark on the lower part of the trunk smooth gr ...

'') or snow gum ('' E. pauciflora''). ''Ajuga australis'' can be readily grown in part-shaded or sunny spots in the garden on most soils. It is readily propagated by cuttings.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q4116563 australis Garden plants of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Tasmania Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1810