 Photo ©
Carl Farmer |
Common on and beside paths, in waste places, grassland, scrub. Flower c 8-15 mm long. Plant usually under 20 cm tall. Skye ID: Unmistakable in or after flowering, with its single compact cylindrical head with layers of broad purple hairy bracts between the flowers. Other features: Unlike most labiates there is a very clear distinction between bracts and leaves. Stem-base creeps and roots at nodes, then turns upright. Flower has upper lip hooded, lower lip 3-lobed, the middle lobe largest and toothed. Calyx also 2-lipped, the upper lip broad and shallowly 3-toothed, the lower lip deeply 2-toothed. Calyx closed in fruit. Stamens with a projection at tip that is pressed against the upper lip of the flower. |
