VERBASCUM 



11. Boerhaavii, Linn. Beautiful lar^o-fld. Mediterra- 

 nean species with copious, snow-whin- deciduous wool 

 and clusters of sessile flowers. 



12. phceniceum, Linn. (V. ferrugineum, And.). Pru- 

 PLE MULLEIN. Very distinct and desirable species, being 

 practically the only purple-fld. species in cultivation and 

 parent of nearly all varieties and hybrids having shades 

 of purple, violet, rose, pink and lilac. The white-fld. 

 form is also common. It is a species of southeastern 

 Eu. and Asia. The name phceniceum was doubtless 

 suggested by the Phcenicean purple and not by the na- 

 tivity of the plant. The species grows about 5 "ft. high, 

 and is one of the few green species, the Ivs. being nearly 

 glabrous or only pubescent. Lvs. ovate : fls. long- 

 stalked, solitary, about 1 in. across, which open poorly 

 in sunshine, preferring damp weather. The species 

 should, therefore, be placed where only the morning 

 and evening sun strike the flowers. L.B.C. 7:6:57. Gn. 

 22, p. 377; 27:481: 46, p. 519. A.G. 1892:630. -Var. 

 cupreum, Beuth. ( V. cupreum, Sims), is a garden hy- 

 brid raised from seeds of V. ovalifolium, showing in- 

 fluence of V. phcenicum in its copper-colored fls. It has 

 long been a favorite. B.M. 122(5. 



13. nigrum, Linn. A common European species, with 

 stem angled above, Ivs. nearly glabrous above, long ra- 

 ceme rarely branched and purple woolly filaments. Gn. 

 27, p. 173; 41, p. 551 (var. album, showing the wonderful 

 improvement made by cultivation). V. vernale, Wierz. 

 & Rochel, is referred to this species by Index Kewensis. 



14. sinuatum, Linn. Mediterranean species 2-3 ft. 

 high, with sinuate-pinnatifid root-lvs., divaricate, pyra- 

 midate panicles and lax, remote, many-fld. clusters. 



15. pyramidatum, Bieb. Tall and beautiful species, 

 with doubly crenate Ivs. nearly glabrous above, pyrami- 

 date, canescent panicle, violet-woolly filaments and a 

 very distinct calyx. Caucasus. 



16. rubigindsum, Waldst. & Kit. Stem glabrous or 

 pubescent above: Ivs. green, crenate: racemes lax, 

 branched: pedicels 2-3, rarely solitary, twice or many 

 times as long as calyx. Var. ferrugineum, Benth. ( V. 

 ferrugineum, Mill.), has a long, simple raceme: fls. a 

 little larger and longer than in V. ph&niceum, and usu- 

 ally in pairs. Either a natural or garden hybrid. 



17. Olympicum, Boiss. Tall Grecian species, 3-5 ft., 

 white-woolly: Ivs. tomentose on both sides: panicles 

 with a few very long, erect branches: clusters many- 

 fld.: fls. 1 in. across, filaments white-woolly. The gar- 

 den merits of this species are discussed above. Gng. 

 1:273. Gn. 30, p. 213; 31, p. 125; 38, pp. 55, 66; 41, 

 p. 555; 47, p. 147. 



18. Lychnitis, Linn. Tomentum slight and mealy: 

 Ivs. greenish above, crenate: panicles pyramidate, erect- 

 spreading: clusters lax, many-fld.: fls. yellow, rarely 

 white. 



19. Chaixii, Vill. ( V, orientate, Bieb.). Lvs. green or 

 tomentose beneath, crenate, lower ones cuneate at base, 

 truncate or incised: racemes panicled. filaments purple- 

 woolly. V. vernale of the trade belongs under V. ni- 

 grum instead of here, as commonly stated. Gn. 27, p. 

 172. Vars. semi-lanatum and Fre'ynianum, Hort., are 

 hybrids. Often attains 10 feet, and acts like a true per- 

 ennial on warm soils. W. M. 



VERBfiNA (ancient Latin name of the common Eu- 

 ropean vervain, V. officinal is). Verbendcea?. Verbenas 

 rank very high among 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 in. across and contain a dozen or more fls. each 

 %-V& in. across. The fls. have a tube and 5 spreading 

 lobes, each lobe being notched at the apex. 



When special colors or named varieties are desired 

 ir 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 some soil in bottom and sand on surface. 



VERBENA 



11)11 



Place the flats in a roldframi . and keep th-m moist 

 and lhaded until the cutting, are rooted. \Vlit-n r. 



transfer to Mat- in a c.,,,1, n^hi i, ,,-,. IIIIt j| after New 

 Year's. Then pot them, u- : |-.t -. and ull..w 



a temperature of 50 J R, which will soon give plenty of 

 material for additional cuttings. Verbena* increased 

 from cuttings tend to flower early, and those pn.|..-i 

 in February or March will require at least one pinch- 

 ing. When planting-out in beds for -unmier bl..oin. 

 bend the plant over nearly to the hori/ontal, so that 

 the new growth will spread along the surface of the 

 soil. These shoots will quickly take root, 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 45-50 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 

 Mower before luiying, and most of them wait till the end 

 of May. However, Verbenas can be planted out early 

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



Verbena is a genus of about 110 species, one Mediter- 

 ranean, the others American and often weedy. Herbs 

 or subshrubs, decumbent or erect: Ivs. opposite, rarely 

 in 3's or alternate: spikes terminal, densely imbricate 

 or long and distant-fld., sometimes corymbose or pani- 

 cled: corolla-tube straight or incurved; limb somewhat 

 2-lipped, lobes 5, oblong or broader, obtuse or retuse; 

 stamens 4, didynamous: ovary 4-loculed, 1-ovuled. DC. 

 Prod. 11:535-556 (1847). ' \y M . SCOTT and W. M. 



The following account of Verbenas is extracted from a thesis 

 by J. H. Cowen, whose untimely death deprived American horti- 

 culture of a most promising worker. Mr. Cowen was a grad- 

 uate of the Colorado Agricultural College and hud been an as- 

 sistant in the horticultural department there. After two years' 

 work at Cornell University he received the degree of Master of 

 Arts in June, 1900, and was elected to the fellowship in the 

 College of Agriculture. A few days later he was notified of his 

 election to the chair of horticulture in the state of Washington 

 and also at Colorado. He accepted the position at his alma 

 mater. The day before his intended departure he was stricken 

 by appendicitis. He died July 12. 1900. The work in Colorado 

 was very touch to his heart. It was his native state. He knew 

 the people and the conditions. No man was ever better fitted 

 for the work he expected to undertake. 



It was Mr. Cowen's intention to recast his thesis in cyclo- 

 pedic form. The following account has been changed as little 

 as possible. The botanical part at the end Bs entirely recast, 

 bnt the readable portion contains Mr. Cowen's own words, 

 with a few slight verbal changes and some omissions. 



In 1836 London styled the Verbenas "a genus of 

 weedy plants." The lapse of a few years was sufficient 

 to prove this remark to be inapplicable in many , 

 for on the plains and prairies of South America grew 

 a number of species of such surpassing beauty as to 

 set at naught all preconceived notions of the inherent 

 ugliness and "weediuess" of the genus. 



Introduction of Parent Species, 18S6-1838. 'Tbe first 

 of this noble race to be introduced was Verbena chamcr- 

 ih-i/ folia, a dazzling scarlet. This species has had a 

 profound influence upon the "selfs" of V. hybrida, par- 

 ticularly the scarlets, and is one of the predominant 

 parent species of the "compactas." 



The second important South American species to be- 

 in t reduced was Verbena phlogi flora, in 1834. The flow- 

 ers are inclined to rose or purple rather than to scarlet, 

 and, according to early plates, are more regular; they 

 are elevated on longer peduncles and the cluster is 

 oval or oblong instead of flat or merely convex. This 

 species and V. chamadry folia seem to be the principal 

 parents of the various red, scarlet and rose-colored 

 forms in cultivation. 



Verbena incisa flowered in England for the first time 

 in 1836. This species is characterized by rosy or j.ur- 

 pli-h. rather regular flowers, borne in a flat or slightly 

 convex cluster. The corolla is strikingly lighter colored 

 below than above. The leaves are much more deeply 

 cut than in the two preceding species. The habit of 

 growth resembles that of I', phlogiflora, but i* rather 

 tall and weak, three feet high in cultivation. This spe- 



