Ground-pine germander

Teucrium pseudochamaepitys, the ground-pine germander, is a low, hairy perennial herb of the Lamiaceae native to the western Mediterranean, including Iberia, the Balearic Islands, southern France, and North Africa. It forms loose mats or low cushions 10-30 cm tall, with woody, decumbent bases giving rise to ascending, densely leafy stems clothed in spreading white hairs. The leaves are deeply 3-5 lobed, the lobes narrowly linear, giving the foliage a finely cut, almost pine-like appearance and the resinous, aromatic scent characteristic of the genus. Flowers are borne in the upper leaf axils, each one resembling other Teucrium species in lacking an upper lip; the corolla is white to pale pink, 12-18 mm long, with a prominent five-lobed lower lip splashed with darker spots. It flowers in spring and early summer on dry, calcareous, stony slopes, garrigue, and abandoned fields.