Teucrium botrys

Grape germander ( Teucrium botrys )

The grapes germander ( Teucrium botrys ), also called field - germander, is a member of the Lamiaceae ( Lamiaceae). It flowers from July to October.

Appearance

The one-year, rarely biennial herbaceous plant reaches a height of from 10 to 30 cm. It has an unpleasant odor. The stem is ascending, glandular shaggy hairs and down usually provided with arching, ascending branches. The leaves are long-stalked, 1.5 to 2.5 cm long, the lower simple, the upper mostly twice pinnate with lanceolate - linealischen cloth. The flowers are about 2 to 4 ( to 6) in the axils of the leaves are about 12 mm long and have 3 to 7 mm long stalks. The crown is cloudy pink, very rare colored and white. The stamens and style protrude far and are bent down. The cup is slightly inflated, has a large, rear-facing sac and is densely hairy with glandular - downy. The nutlets are almost spherical, 1.5 to 2 mm long, pitted, rough and have a umzogene by a deep furrow Anheftungsfläche.

The flowers show the peculiarity that the flower stems often turn to the right so that the lower lip comes to lie upwards to the left or yourself. These weakly indicated, so-called Resupination, occurs in some Mediterranean species on a regular basis.

Distribution and habitat requirements

The grapes germander grows in fields, vineyards, gravel pits, quarries, on scree slopes, railway embankments and waste places. It occurs especially on calcareous soils, occasionally it is also found on lime- stone.

Teucrium botrys comes from the western Mediterranean prior to Central Europe. East to Poland and the northern Balkans encroaching. He is a sub-Mediterranean - subatlantisches Florenelement. In Austria and Switzerland, one finds him generally scattered. Area, he is also at risk.

The grapes germander is in the southern limestone areas scattered to widespread before (including the Upper Rhine and Neckar area, Pfalz ). In addition, he is rarely or only locate abducted.