VERBENACEAE 



VERVAIN FAMILY 



WHITE VERVAIN 



Verbena urticaefolia L, 



Most members of the Vervain family are tropical and many 

 are shrubs or even trees. The relatively few species that occur 

 in Illinois are herbs. Only the Verbenas of our gardens are of 

 economic importance, 

 at least in this climate, 

 though some tropical 

 members, such as 

 Teak, furnish excellent 

 ship timber. The fam- 

 ily is distinguished 

 from the Mint family, 

 which follows, chiefly 

 on the basis of the im- 

 lobed ovary. The 100 

 members of the genus 

 Verbena are confined 

 to the Americas, with 

 the possible exception 

 of one which is also 

 foimd in the Mediter- 

 ranean region. 



The White Vervain 

 is widely distributed, be- 

 ing found in waste places 

 from New Brunswick to 

 South Dakota and south to Florida and Texas. The slender 4- 

 sided stem grows y^ feet high. The leaves resemble those of 

 some of the Nettles. They are i yi-S inches long, ovate, oblong or 

 oblong-lanceolate, thin, cut toothed and petioled or the upper- 

 most sessile. 



Long slender spikes, erect or somewhat drooping, bear the 

 very small white flowers, barely one-eighth inch in diameter. 

 They bloom from June to frost and as this species hybridizes 

 readily with others all sorts of color and size forms may be found. 

 Usually a number of the spikes grow from axils of the upper 

 bracts so that the inflorescence is large and spreading. The truits 

 are oblong, less than one-eighth inch long, and scattered along 

 the spikes instead of overlapping. 



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