Ground-ivy
Glechoma hederacea
Found in lawns, gardens, forests, disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- Plant height varies from about 2 to 24 inches [31,44,51,87,102].
- Light
- Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Do not plant. Listed invasive in Virginia.
Plant this instead
Choose your county to list local plants first.
- Intermediate Wood-fernDryopteris intermedia
Similar growth form, evergreen or deciduous, soil moisture
No recorded swaps for this county. Try the garden finder.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Bloom
- March to June
- Fruiting season
- May to July
Not yet recorded · Spread
Recorded in 105 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 134 animals.
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Olive-sided FlycatcherContopus cooperi
- Orange-crowned WarblerVermivora celata
- Orchard OrioleIcterus spurius
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Red-bellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinus
- Red-shouldered HawkButeo lineatus
- Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
- Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- VeeryCatharus fuscescens
- White-eyed VireoVireo griseus
- Wild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavo
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- American CootFulica americana
- American KestrelFalco sparverius
- American Tree SparrowSpizella arborea
- Bank SwallowRiparia riparia
- Black-billed CuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus
Who uses this plant?
2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Glechoma
- Xanthorhoe ferrugataRed Twin-Spot, Twin-Spot Carpet
- Xanthotype urticariaFalse Crocus Geometer
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimPlant details
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–10b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- Blue or purple
- Fruit begins
- May
- Fruit ends
- July
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late March to June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Blue or purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “May” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–10b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “Plant height varies from about 2 to 24 inches (5-60 cm) [31,44,51,87,102].” · Fire Effects Information System: Glechoma hederacea (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs) · Source botanical description; original units and scope retained
- Leaves · “Evergreen” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Dappled sunlight (shade through upper canopy all day); Deep shade (less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight); Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Creeping Charlie; Glecoma hederacea; Ground Ivy
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Virginia DCR invasive plant list
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications