ground-ivies

Glechoma is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, first described for modern science in 1753. It is distributed in northern Asia and Europe with a center of diversity in Asia, especially China. One species is naturalized in New Zealand and in North America.

These plants are perennial herbs with stolons. The stems are prostrate or upright and bear leaf blades on long petioles. The inflorescences arising from the leaf axils have two to many flowers. The tubular corolla has two lobed lips, and is generally blue-violet. The genus is closely related to Marmoritis but closer still to Meehania, and some species have in the past been moved between the latter genus and Glechoma.