Teucrium viscidum

Teucrium viscidum is a perennial herb of the mint family (Lamiaceae) widely distributed through East and Southeast Asia, including much of China, Japan, Korea, the Himalayas, India, Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines. It grows from creeping rhizomes into erect or ascending square stems 30 to 70 centimetres tall, the upper parts glandular and somewhat sticky, which gives the plant its name. The opposite, ovate, stalked leaves have coarsely toothed margins. The small flowers are borne in slender terminal and axillary racemes; as in all germanders the corolla lacks an upper lip, so that the five lobes form a single forward-projecting lower lip, typically white to pale pink, providing a platform for visiting insects. The fruit comprises four small nutlets. It grows in shaded, moist habitats such as forest floors, streamsides, thickets and damp grassy banks. Like other Teucrium species it can cause liver toxicity.