3444 



VERBASCUM 



VERBENA 



fls. Var. album, Hort., is a white-fld. form. Gn. 46, 

 p. 519. 



V. Caleddnia, Hort. (V. hybridum Caledonia, Hort.), is a hybrid 

 by some said to have buff fls., by others sulfur-yellow shaded bronze, 

 and by still others rosy drab with a darker center, and by all to be 

 strong-growing and branched. V. cupreum, Sims (V. phceniceum 

 var. cupreum, Benth ex W. Mill. V. ovalifohum X V. phceniceum). 

 Biennial: st. simple: Ivs. cordate-ovate, rugose, crenate, lanate 

 beneath: raceme elongated; pedicels rather long, 1-bracted: fls. 

 copper-colored. Garden hybrid. B.M. 1226. It differs from V. 

 ovalifolium not only in the color of the fls., but also in having pedi- 

 celled instead of sessile fls., and 1 subtending bract instead of 3. 

 V. Libani, Hort., is offered in the trade. V. newyense, Hort. 

 (V. Chaixii X V. phlomoides), is offered in the trade as having erect 

 spikes of large yellow fls. with dark centers. 



F. TRACY HUBBARD. 



VERBENA (ancient Latin name of the common 

 European vervain, V. offidnalis). Verbenacese. Annual 

 or perennial herbs or subshrubs, which are diffuse or 

 sometimes creeping, some of them common flower-gar- 

 den plants and sometimes grown in the greenhouse. 



Leaves opposite or rarely ternately whorled or 

 alternate, dentate or usually incised or dissected, rarely 

 entire: spikes terminal, sometimes densely imbricated, 

 sometimes elongated, slender and remotely fld., some- 

 times broadly corymbose or paniculate on an erect st., 

 rarely axillary: fls. small or medium-sized, sessile; 

 calyx tubular, 5-ribbed, 5-toothed; corolla-tube straight 

 or incurved, limb spreading, somewhat 2-lipped, lobes 

 5, oblong or broad, obtuse or retuse; stamens 4, in 

 pairs; ovary entire or very shortly 4-lpbed at apex, 

 4-celled, cells 1-ovuled: fr. separating into 4 narrow 

 pyrenes or nutlets. About 80-100 species, chiefly 

 natives in Trop. and extra-Trop. Amer. Some of them 

 are unshowy weedy plants in fields and waste grounds 

 in the U. S. and Canada. For the lemon verbena (V. 

 citriodora}, see Lippia citriodora. 



Verbenas rank high among plants grown as garden 

 annuals. Their clusters of showy and often fragrant 

 flowers are borne in constant succession from June till 

 frost. They vary from white through lilac and rose to 

 purple and dark purplish blue, with shades of pink and 

 pale yellow. The clusters are about 2 inches across 

 and contain a dozen or more flowers each Y% to y% 

 inch across. The plants are grown with ease in any 

 usual garden soil and condition. For general purposes, 

 the plants should be grown from seeds. The plants are 

 set about 1 foot apart each way, although a strong 

 plant in good soil may spread 3 feet or so in the course 

 of the season. Usually the seeds are started indoors, 

 but if sown in the open as soon as the season is settled 

 and warm, flowering plants should be secured in July 

 or early in August. The verbena of gardens is a semi- 

 trailer, the flower-stems not rising more than about a 

 foot or so. It is sometimes used as a ground-cover under 

 gladioli, lilies, and other tall plants, and in the margins 

 of shrubbery plantations. It also makes an excellent 

 window-box subject. 



When special colors or named varieties are desired 

 it is necessary to propagate verbenas by cuttings. To 

 propagate a particularly choice variety by cuttings, 

 shorten back the plants about September 1, keep them 

 well watered, and by the end of the month there will be 

 plenty of quick tender growth suitable for cutting. Put 

 the cuttings in the propagating-house or even in flats 

 with soil in bottom and sand on surface. Place the flats 

 in a coldframe, and keep them moist and shaded until 

 the cuttings are rooted. When rooted, transfer to flats 

 in a cool light house until after New Year's. Then pot 

 them, using 2J4-inch pots, and allow a temperature of 

 50 F., which will soon give plenty of material for 

 additional cuttings. Verbenas increased from cuttings 

 tend to flower early, and those propagated in February 

 or March will require at least one pinching. When 

 planting-out in beds for summer bloom, bend the plant 

 over nearly to the horizontal, so that the new growth 

 will spread along the surface of the soil. These shoots 

 will take root quickly, thereby covering the ground. 

 The old method was to peg the plants down. 



In propagating general stock, sow the seed in Febru- 

 ary and pot into 2-inch pots as soon as the seedlings are 

 up an inch. A temperature of 45 to 50 will answer, but 

 they should have full light. There is no place equal to 

 a mild hotbed for young verbenas. About April 15 

 plunge the pots in a few inches of soil in a mild hotbed. 

 Lift them now and then and rub off the roots which go 

 through the bottom of the pot, in order to check growth 

 and hasten flowering. Customers want to see them in 

 flower before buying, and most of them wait till the end 

 of May. However, verbenas may be planted out early 

 in May, as a slight frost will not injure them. 



The evolution of the garden verbenas has taken place 

 in about seventy-five years. Although the history can 

 be made out with considerable clearness, yet the botani- 

 cal origin of the present florist's race, as to the species 

 involved and the extent to which they have contributed, 

 is not satisfactorily recorded. It is probable that four 

 species have been more or less fused in the race or 

 group known as Verbena, hybrida, V. chamsedryfolia, 

 V. phlogiflora, V. indsa, and V. teucrioides. These 

 species are shown in Fig. 3910. For an historical account 

 of the development of the garden verbenas, see Cowen, 

 "Cyclopedia of American Horticulture," Vol. IV. 



It is impossible satisfactorily to classify the hybrid 

 garden verbenas according to their botanical deriva- 

 tion. They are conveniently classed according to color 

 of flowers 'into: (1) Selfs, or one-colored varieties;_ (2) 

 Oculatas, or eyed varieties; and (3) Italians, or striped 

 varieties. As to habit they may be divided into: (1) 

 Standards, those of the ordinary loose, spreading 

 growth; and (2) Compactas, which are much reduced in 

 stature and of more condensed form. Verbenas now in 

 cultivation are shown in Figs. 3910, 3911. 



Latin trade names probably mostly or entirely belong 

 with the garden or hybrid race of verbenas, such as 

 compacta, coccinea, grandiflora, monstrosa, cserulea, 

 candidissima, italica, auriculaeflora, striata. 



INDEX. 



Lambertii, 9. 

 Maonettii, 6. 

 Melindres, 1. 

 melindroides, 1. 

 montana, 8, 9. 

 multifida, 7. 



phlogiflora, 2. 

 pulchella, 6, 7, 8. 

 tenera, 6. 

 teucripides, 4. 

 Tweedieana, 2. 

 venosa, 5. 



Aubletia, 9. 

 bipinnatifida, 8. 

 canadensis, 9. 

 chamEedryfolia, 1. 

 Drummondii, 9. 

 erinoides, 7. 

 incisa, 3. 



A. Connective of the upper anthers not appendaged. 



B. Clusters not panicled. Prototypes of the 'garden verbenas 



(7. hybrida, Hort. Fig. S911). 



c. Fls. scarlet. 



1. chamsedryfolia, Juss. Fig. 3910. Characterized by 

 red fls. in flattish clusters, oblong, coarsely scalloped, 

 nearly sessile Ivs. and rather stiff pubescence: sts. slen- 

 der, forking, creeping at base, hirsute: branches some- 

 what ascending: Ivs. oblong or ovate, base broadly 

 cuneate, contracted into the short petiole, crenate or 

 subincisely serrate, serrations often unequal, strigose 

 above, below hairy, especially on nerves: peduncles 

 elongated, ascending: spikes solitary, capitate: bracts 

 lanceolate-subulate, ciliate: calyx hirsute-canescent, 

 sparingly glandular, more than twice as long as the 

 bracts; corolla crimson, limb irregular. Occurs in two 

 rather distinct forms: var. Melindres, Hort., has oblong 

 to oblong-lanceolate Ivs., which are unequally incised- 

 serrate. This form is less hirsute and is more graceful 

 and vigorous. It was the form first intro. to cult. Var. 

 melindroides, Hort., has shorter, broader Ivs. and is more 

 hairy. Different forms occur over S. Brazil, Uruguay, 

 Paraguay, and the whole of the Pampas. B.R. 1184. 

 L.B.C. 16:1514. B.M. 3333. P.M. 1:173. B.3:129. 



cc. Fls. rose or purple. 

 D. Fl.-clusters oval to oblong: Ivs. saw-toothed. 



2. phlogiflora, Cham. (V. Tweedieana, Niven). Fig. 

 3910. Characterized by rosy or purple fls. in oblong or 



