A hardy perennial, 10-30 cm (4-12 in) high, growing on a creeping rootstock, it has attractive blue flower spikes in spring or early summer, growing from rosettes of basal leaves, White or pink-flowered mutants occasionally occur.
History and traditions
The apothecaries knew it as “bugula” and along with self-heal, Prunella vulgaris, it was valued for many centuries as a wound herb. Culpeper thought highly of it: “if the virtues of it make you fall in love with it (as they will if you be wise) keep a syrup of it to take inwardly, and an ointment and plaster of it to use outwardly, always by you”. He recommended it for all kinds of sores, gangrene and fistulas. Gerard, who found many specimens growing “in a moist ground upon Black heath, near London”, backs him up, expressing the view that it is common knowledge in France “how he needs neither physician nor surgeon that hath Bugle and Sanicle”.
Related species
Cultivars with richly colored foliage make rewarding subjects for the herb garden. A. r. ‘Atropurpurea’ has purple-bronze leaves, A. r. ‘Multicolor’ has colorful variegated foliage of, pink, crimson and cream with a hint of green, and A. r. ‘Variegata’ has greyish-green leaves with creamy margins.
Growth
Agujas make excellent ground cover and are easy to propagate by separating a sufficient moisture can be provided. They do need a moist soil to flourish well and sun or partial shade.
Uses
Medicinal
Its reputation, sadly, has not stood the test of time and bugle is no longer widely used in herbal medicine today. But it is said to be mildly astringent and is sometimes still recommended, in the form of a lotion or ointment, for treating cuts and bruises.
