This purple lawn weed is popping up in nature logs everywhere
iNaturalist Community
Native Plants
That low, purple-flowered plant creeping through your lawn or the edge of the trail isn't just a weed to mow over, it's an edible, medicinal herb that's easy to learn and spot once you know its square stem and hooded blooms.
Selfheal is a small purple-flowered plant that grows in lawns, meadows, and along trails almost everywhere. This week, over a thousand people uploaded verified sightings of it to iNaturalist, making it one of the most-logged plants around. It's a great one for beginners because it's common, easy to identify, and has a long history of use as a foraging and herbal medicine plant.
Key Findings
1045 research-grade observations of Prunella vulgaris were logged in a single week
The species ranks among the most-observed plants on iNaturalist this week
Common selfheal grows widely across lawns, meadows, and disturbed ground, making it easy for beginners to find and identify
chevron_right Technical Summary
A common backyard weed called selfheal is having a big moment on iNaturalist, with over a thousand people photographing and logging it in a single week. It's a sign of how widespread and easy to spot this little purple-flowered plant is right now.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Trending: common selfheal (Prunella vulgaris) — 1045 observations this week
common selfheal is among the most observed plant species this week with 1045 research-grade observations.
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
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Warming killed underground fungi and pushed meadows toward shrublands
Mountain meadows and wildflower-rich grasslands many people hike through and depend on for clean water and biodiversity are quietly transforming underground ...
Prunella vulgaris, the common self-heal, heal-all, woundwort, heart-of-the-earth, carpenter's herb, brownwort or blue curls, is an herbaceous flowering plant in the mint family (Lamiaceae).