Yeah! That title sure sounds like an ad…and it is.
REI is one of my favorite places to shop for outdoor stuff, so I thought my readers might like to know that today is the last day of the 4th of July sale at REI.
WildeHerb is a collection of wild herb and wildflower sightings.
A beautifully deep shade of purple drew my attention to the flowers of Bugle. A new spring roadside weed for me!
Spikes of deep purple stood less than a foot tall but the color was so vivid that the shade of the nearby trees didn’t hide these weeds growing by a two-lane road next to the creek.
Bugle, Ajuga reptans, is alien to America and native to Europe, but you can find it growing wild in America along roadsides because it has escaped from gardens. Bugle’s tendency to form mats could make it an undesirable alien if not an invasive one.
Another common name for bugle is bugleweed, but that’s not to be confused with Bugleweed, Lycopus virginicus, a very different-looking herb native to North America that has some medicinal qualities.
Several flowers grow in the leaf axils. Flower shape is tubular and the lower central lip is long and gracefully cleft.