IDervain Jfamil^. 



White Vervain. Verbena urticcBfolia. 



Nettle-leaved Vervain. 



Found in waste places and roadsides, from July to September. 



The branching stalk grows from 1 to 2 feet high, and is 4-sided, 

 each side being grooved down its middle ; it is strong-fibred, and rough- 

 hairy, and green. 



The oval leaf tapers to the tip, is coarsely toothed, and loose-fibred ; 

 its sui'face is hairy, and its color dark green. The leaves, on short 

 stems, are placed upon the stalk in pairs. 



The small, inconspicuous, white flower is 5-pointed. They are clus- 

 tered in long slender spires, from the top of the stalk, and the angles 

 of the upper leaves. 



The leafage of the White /ervain bears a resemblance to the nox- 

 ious Nettle, that at first sight would lead us to condemn the plant as 

 unworthy ; a closer observation bestowed upon the graceful gesture of 

 its flowering spires will rescue its name from the limbo of " weeds." 



488 



