No relation to : Ground Elder, Ground-pine, Groundsel, Ivy, Boston Ivy, German Ivy, Persian Ivy, Atlantic Ivy, Ivy Broomrape, Ivy-leaved Crowfoot, Ivy-leaved Duckweed, Ivy-leaved Bellflower or Ivy-leaved Toadflax [plants with similar names]

Some similarities to plants belonging to the same Dead-nettle Family: Bugle (but Bugle grows taller, with many more tiers of flowers and Ground Ivy has flowers that are more purplish-blue), Pyramidal Bugle, Skullcap and Basil Thyme in that the flowers are similarly blue with two lips and grow less than a foot high.

Slight resemblance to other plants belonging to the same Dead-nettle Family: Meadow Clary, Balkan Clary, Wild ClaryClary and Meadow Clary and to Clary which have similarly shaped blue flowers but these plants are much taller than any of the previous lot.

Superficial resemblance to : Self-Heal. It has a similar height to Red Dead-Nettle and its leaves are similarly toothed and rounded, but Red Dead-nettle has pink flowers and reddish leaves, whereas Ground Ivy has blue flowers and leaves which may turn reddish-brown rather than red.

Despite its name, it is not a type of Ivy, it just spreads, a bit like Ivy does, with long rooting runners.

Uniquely identifiable characteristics

Distinguishing Feature :

Ground Ivy was once used as the principle bittering agent in the making of beer, which is why it came to be known as 'Ale hoof'. It is still widely used as a tonic in herbal teas.

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