228 WEEDS AND USEFUL PLANTS. 



OEDER XLVIIL VEBBENA'CE^E. (VERVAIN FAMILY.) 



(shrubs, and even trees within the tropics) , having opposite leaves without stipules, 

 and a tubular corolla with the limb 4-5-lobed, more or less 2-lipped and didymnmms 

 stamens. Ovary free, entire, 2-4-celled. Fruit dry (or sometimes drupaceous) and 

 splitting into 2-4 indehiscent 1-seeded nutlets. Seeds with little or no albumen. 



An Order of but little importance to the farmer, though containing a number of plants 

 interesting to the florist. The tree w*hich furnishes the " ever-during 2kifc" of India 

 (Ikctona grandis, L.) so celebrated in ship-building belongs to this Order. 



1. VERBE'NA, L. VERVAIN. 



[The Latin name for the leaves of any sacred herb ; etymology obscure.] 



Calyx tubular, 5-toothed, one of the teeth often shorter. Corolla tub- 

 ular, somewhat salver-form, with the limb rather unequally 5-lobed. 

 Stamens included, the upper pair usually without anthers. Ovary 2-4- 

 celled, with 1 ovule in each cell. Fruit separable into 2 - 4 nutlets. 

 Flowers mostly in terminal spikes, bracteate. 



1. V. urticoefo'lia,^. Leaves ovate and lance-ovate, acute, serrate, pe- 

 tiolate ; spikes filiform, terminal and axillary, somewhat paniculate ; 

 flowers distant. 



NETTLE-LEAVED VERBENA. Common Vervain. 



Rott perennial. Stem erect, 2-3 or 4 feet high, obtusely quadrangular, hirsutely pu- 

 bescent, with slender axillary spreading branches above. Leaves 2 - 4 inches long, ab- 

 ruptly narrowed at base to a short petiole. Spikes 1 or 2-5 or 6 inches long, green, very 

 Blender. Flowers distinct and finally a little distant, small, sessile, with a minute bract 

 at base. Corolla white, the throat closed by a delicate white villus. Fruit separating 

 into 4 nucules, which are oblong and triquetrous, with the outer side convex. 



Pastures, road^-sides, &c. : throughout the United States. Fl. July -August. Fi: 

 September. 



06s. This is not a very pernicious or troublesome weed ; but as it is 

 altogether worthless, and often so abundant in pasture fields as neces- 

 sarily to attract the notice of the observing farmer, I thought it might 

 be admitted into the present work. 



V. officina'lis, another introduced species with pinnatified or 3-cleft 

 leaves and small purplish flowers is found in some localities. The spe- 

 cies of this germs are remarkable for their tendency to hybridize ; several 

 of our native species produce hybrids spontaneously. Various crosses 

 and varieties of V. AUBLE'TIA, V. CHAM^EDRIFO'LIA, and other species, are 

 now among the most common and deservedly popular ornaments of the 

 flower garden. The varieties are almost innumerable and are yearly in- 

 creased by the florists. 



ORDER XLIX. LABIA'T^E. (MINT FAMILY.) 



Chiefly herbs with quadrangular stems, opposite or sometimes verticillate ltav<?s without 

 stipules, and jlmvers in axillary opposite cynmles or aggregated in terminal spikes, rarely- 

 solitary. Corolla more or loss bilabiate. Stamens 4, didynamous, or sometimes 2 ; an- 

 tlier-cdls parallel, or often divaricate, sometimes separated by a long filiform connective'. 

 Ovary deeply 4-lobed, becoming, in fruit, 4 little seed-like nutlets, surrounding the base of 

 the style, in the bottom of the persistent calyx ; each lobe, or nutlet, containing a single 

 se&l with littb or no albumen. Foliage containing receptacles of aromatic oil. 



