Herbal Glossary | Medicinal Glossary | Herbal Preparations | Ayervedic Formulas | Chinese Formulas
Folk Remedies | Native American Formulas | Herbal Remedies | Nutritional Guidelines

Ground Ivy

Scientific Names

• Glechoma hederacea L.
• Mint family

Common Names

Gill-over-the-ground
Back to Top

---

Parts Usually Used

Leaves
Back to Top

---

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Creeping, ivy-like perennial.  Leaves scallop-edged, round to kidney-shaped; sometimes tinged with purple.  Two-lipped violet flowers, in whorls of leaf axils; March to July.
Back to Top

---

Where Found

Roadsides, lawns.  Throughout Unites States
Back to Top

---

Medicinal Properties

Astringent
Back to Top

---

Uses

Traditionally, leaf tea was used for lung ailments, sinusitis, hay fever, allergic rhinitis, asthma, jaundice, kidney ailments, as a blood purifier.  Externally, a folk remedy for cancer, backaches, bruises, and piles.
Back to Top

---

Warning

Reportedly toxic to horses.
Back to Top



Bibliography

Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000

The Nature Doctor, by Dr. H.C.A. Vogel; Keats Publishing, Inc., 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991

The Complete Medicinal Herbal, by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993

The Magic of Herbs, by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England. (Out of print)

The Yoga of Herbs, by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988.

Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023, 1984

The Rodale Herb Book, edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974

Back to Top