GARDNERELLA VAGINALIS is a small Gram –negative club shaped organisms which stains dark blue with the Papanicolaou stain giving a smear a “dirty” appearance..They accumulate on the surface of large squames to produce the so called “clue cells”. G. vaginalis can be isolated from the genital tract in 20% of asymptomatic women but is also linked to the pathological condition known as bacterial vaginosis. Note absence of inflammatory response in the above smear.