Prunella vulgaris L.
self-heal (common selfheal)
Lamiaceae (Mint family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
self-heal (common selfheal)
Lamiaceae (Mint family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from an enlarged stem-base or short rhizome, fibrous-rooted; stems solitary or clustered, erect to spreading or reclining, 10-50 cm long, short-hairy to glabrous, 4-angled.
Leaves:
All stem leaves or some basal; opposite, lanceolate or elliptic to broadly egg-shaped, 2-7 cm long, 0.7-4 cm wide, entire or obscurely toothed, glabrous or lightly hairy; stalks 5-30 mm long; lower leaves often broader with more rounded base than upper.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of many flowers in dense terminal spikes, 2-5 cm long, about 1.5-2 cm wide, usually subtended by upper leaves; bracts kidney- to egg-shaped, about 1 cm long, reddish, tips pointed, margins hairy; corollas tubular, blue-violet or occasionally pink or white, 10-15 mm long in bisexual flowers, 8-11 mm long in pistillate flowers, fine-hairy inside, 2-lipped, the upper lip hood-like and entire, the lower lip 3-lobed with broad middle lobe; calyces dark green to purplish, 7-10 mm long, 2-lipped, lips longer than tube, the upper lip squared-off and with 3 short awns, the lower lip with 2 lanceolate spine-tipped teeth.
Fruits:
Nutlets, 4 clustered together, egg-shaped, smooth.
Notes:
Two subspecies occur in BC:
1. Principal stem leaves egg-shaped to oblong (averaging half as broad as long), broadly wedge-shaped or rounded at base.................... ssp. vulgaris
1. Principal stem leaves lanceolate to egg-shaped (averaging one-third as broad as long), narrowly wedge- shaped to abruptly pointed at base.................. ssp. lanceolata (Bart.) Hult.
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Purple
Blooming Period:
Mid Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Green
Present from Summer to Fall
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Prunella vulgaris
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
600 | 1 | 1756 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
13 | 0 | 93 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
163 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
282 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(1), CDF(11), CWH(80), ESSF(8), ICH(64), IDF(34), MH(1), MS(13), SBPS(3), SBS(30) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Mesic to dry roadsides, waste places, lawns, fields and open forests in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common throughout BC, S of 57degreeN; ssp. lanceolata - N to AK, E to NF and S to NC, KA, NM and CA, ssp. vulgaris - introduced from Eurasia.Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Prunella caroliniana P. Mill.
Prunella vulgaris var. elongata Benth.
Prunella vulgaris var. lanceolata (W. Bartram) Fernald
Prunella vulgaris var. vulgaris L. [superfluous autonym]