Austral Bugle at Burradoo, NSW
Identification history
| Ajuga australis | 15 Oct 2019 | BettyDonWood | ||
| Ajuga australis | 15 Oct 2019 | Margot |
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User's notes
Specimen brought in by resident. Specimen popped up in new revegetation area - they are concerned it might be a weed.
We think it might be Ajunga australis but not 100% sure.
5 comments
Daisy
wrote:
16 Oct 2019
Fairly certain Ajuga australis.
Vic Flora has a key to distinguish this from A. reptans
Vic Flora has a key to distinguish this from A. reptans
BettyDonWood
wrote:
16 Oct 2019
The other possibility it may be confused with is Prunella vulgaris (Self-Heal).
Daisy
wrote:
17 Oct 2019
Definitely not Prunella, and have since checked a known population of Ajuga australis and can confirm sighting.
ESP
wrote:
17 Oct 2019
Yep, definitely A. australis. Both PlantNet and VicFlora provide information of variable quality on this species but here's a useful quote from VicFlora: "A very variable species in need of revision. A distinctive variant from mallee sandhills and riverine plains in the north-west of the state is suberect and larger in all parts than the common prostrate or decumbent variant in Victoria, and commonly has paler, pink or mauve flowers. This robust variant may correspond to Ajuga grandiflora Stapf, but without a review of the species from across its entire range, the use of this name should be discouraged." Bottom line is that the native species (described elsewhere in that profile as 'broadly circumscribed') isn't well defined and could entail multiple entities. This is indicated when comparing accepted descriptions for A. australis in VIC and NSW. It is also important to note that there are probably more than one non-native species that have naturalised, and even if it is just the one - reptans - there are cultivars of it as well - different flower colours and different leaf colours. The species currently treated as A. reptans readily naturalises in fertile to semi-fertile sites, including disturbed areas, in which it can sometimes become common. The native species behaves similarly, and I think your photos shows this well - a significantly modified site yet A. australis is doing very well - it's actually the happiest population I've seen of it for years, possibly because it has picked up with Spring rains. It may have been common in Cumberland Plain Woodlands and Southern Highlands Shale Forest/Woodland but like many other small forbs, has largely been displaced by sowing and spread on exotic pasture grasses. Nice to have it doing well at Burradoo!
Location information
- Coordinates 150.402193-34.500648
- Maps Burradoo Wingecarribee Local Government Area
- Places Burradoo, NSW
Sighting information
- 16 - 100 Abundance
- 15 Oct 2019 02:58 PM Recorded on
- Margot Recorded by
-
Collections
Plants Other Wildflowers & Herbs Margot
Species information
- Ajuga australis Scientific name
- Austral Bugle Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1321.09m Recorded at altitude
- Machine learning
-
In flower
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes
