This small Ajuga plant seems to be happy growing in dry rocky places when other plants have succumbed to the heat and drought of summer. It produces small black seeds, which can remain dormant for many years germinating when conditions are right. When it has developed its fresh young leaves and before the yellow flowers appear it resembles a tiny pine tree, hence its English name. The subspecies chia, with its narrowly divided,  hairy leaves  is ideally suited to the Mediterranean climate, it grows in countries along the  North and East of the Mediterranean extending north as far as Russia and Caucasus.