VERBENACEAE 



VERVAIN FAMILY 



BLUE VERVAIN 



Verbena liastaia L. 



This is the largest and commonest Vervain in Illinois. It is 

 abundant in low open moist places throughout, and beyond our 

 state stretches from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, south to 

 Florida and Arizona. 



The 4-sided stem grows 

 3-7 feet high and is slightly 

 roughened by occasional 

 very short hairs. The ser- 

 rate leaves are lanceolate, 

 petioled, taper pointed and 

 3-6 inches long. They are 

 the source of Vervain tea, 

 a familiar spring tonic, es- 

 pecially in rural districts. 



Numerous spikes in a 

 panicle bear the flowers, 

 blooming from June to 

 September. The flowers, 

 crowded in the spike, are 

 blue, white or pink, and 

 about one-eighth inch broad. 



The Hoary Vervain, Ver- 

 bena stricta Vent., is perhaps 

 the most showy of all Ver- 

 vains that adorn prairies, 

 fields and other open places 

 in summer. It is native only 

 in the central part of the 

 continent, occurring only in 



dry sandy soil from Ohio and Ontario to Minnesota, South Dakota 

 and Wyoming, south to Tennessee, Texas and New Mexico, frequent- 

 ly in colonies of considerable size. The stem grows 1-3 feet high and 

 is densely covered with soft whitish hairs. The large purplish flowers 

 bloom from May to September in thick hairy spikes. The fruits are 

 a little more than one-eighth inch long, crowded and overlapping on 

 the spikes. The bracts are lanceolate-awl shaped and nearly as long 

 as the calyx. 



269 



