340 VKRBENACr.E. (VERVAIN FAMILY.) 



Stamens included ; the upper pair occasionally without anthers. Style slender : 

 sti<,^niu capitate. Fruit splitting into 4 ;-ceil-like nutlets-. — Flowers sessile, in 

 single or often i)anicled spikes, bractcd; produced all summer. (The Latin 

 name for any sacred herb: derivation obscure.) — The species present numerous 

 spontaneous hybrids. 



§ 1. Aitt/ters not appendiu/cd : erect herbs, vith slender spikts. 

 * Lmves undivided: root perennial, 



1. V. angUStifolia, Michx. Low (6' -18' high), often simple; leaves 

 narrowly lanceolate, tapering to the b;vsc, sessile, roughish, slightly toothed ; 

 spikes few or single; the purple flowers crowded, larger than in the next. — Dry 

 soil, Amherst, JIass., to Wisconsin and southward : rare northward. 



2. V. hastata, L. (Hluk Vluvai.n.) Tall (4°-G° high); leaver lance- 

 olate or oUoiKj-tunctulute, taper-pointed, cut-serrate, petioled, the loioer ojlen lobed and 

 sometiiiiis halherd-shaiied at the base ; ypikes linear, erect, denselij flowered, corymbed 

 or panicled. (V. paniculiita. Lam., when the leaves are not lobed.) — Low and 

 waste grounds : common. At the north probably immigrant from the south. 



3. V. Ul'ticifdlia, L. (Nettle-leaved or White V.) liather tall; 

 leaves oval or oUony-ovale, acute, coarsely serrate, petioled; spikes very slender, at 

 length much elongated, with the flowers remote, loosely panicled, very small, white. 

 — Old fields and roadsides : apparently immigrant. 



4. V. Stricta, Vent. (HoAKY v.) Downg with soft whitish hairs; stem 

 nearly simi)le (1° - 2° high) ; leaves sessile, obovate or oblong, serrate ; s/iikis thick 

 and verij denscli/ flowered, .somewhat clustered, hairy. — Barrens, Ohio to Wiscon- 

 sin, and southward. — Flowers blue, pretty large. 



* * Leaves clefl or pinnritifid, narrowed at the base: root perennial ? 



5. V. offici.nXlis, L. (Eukopean V.) Erect, \oosii\y branched (1° -3° 

 high) ; leaves pinnatifid or 3-clefl, oblong-lanceolate, sessile, smooth above, the lobes 

 cut and toothed ; spikes panicled, very slender ; bracts small, much shorter than 

 the very small purplish flowers. (V. spuria, L.) — Roadsides; chiefly south- 

 Avard : scarce. (Nat. from En.) 



6. V. braete6sa, Michx. Widdg spreading or procumbent, hairy; A ares 

 wedge-lanceolate, vut-pinnatijid or 3-rlfft, short-petioled ; spikes single, remotely 

 flowered ; bracts large and lenfi/, the lower pinnatifid, longer than the small pur- 

 ple flowers. — Waste places, Wisconsin to Kentucky and southward. 



§ 2. Anthers of thf longer stamens tipped with a glandular appendage. 



7. V. Aubl6tia, L. tIwhho/, rather hairy, spreading or ascending; leaves 

 obovatc-oblong with a wedge-shaped base, .3-cleft and cut or pinnatifid ; spikes 

 ])cduiu'led. flat-t()|iped in flower; bracts shorter than the calyx; flowers .showy, 

 light jiurple. — Prairies and rocks, from Illi^iois southward. Also cultivated. 



2. LIP PI A, L. (Zap.\xia, ./«.«.) 



Calyx short, often flattened, 2-4-toothed, or 2-lipped. Corolla 2-lipped : up- 

 per lip notched ; tiie lower much larger, .3-lobcd. Stamens inclu<led. Style 

 slender: stigma obliquely capitate. Fruit 2-celled, 2-seeded. (Dedicated to 

 Augustus Lippi, an Italian naturalist and traveller.) 



