VERBENA. 



■^hite. Purjh. Akin to the laft, but taller, and clearly 

 diftinguifhed by its ftalked, coarfely fcrrated, nettle-like 

 leaves. BraBeas ovate, llightly pointed, iTiorter than tlie 

 xalyx. 



17. W . Jlrida. Stout Upright Vervain. Venten. Hort. 

 Celf. t. 53. Ait. n. 10. Willd. Enura. 633. Pur(h 

 n. 10. Donn Cant. ed. 5. n. 10. (V. rigens ; Michaux 

 Boreal. -Amer. v. 2. 14. V. paniculata ; Donn Cant, 

 ed. 5. n. 8.) — Spikes aggregate, corymbofe, ftraight, 

 denfe, obtufe. Brafteas taper-pointed, as long as the 

 calyx. Leaves ovate, on fhort llalks, unequally ferrated, 

 downy and hoary on both fides. — Native of Carolina, and 

 the Illinois country, perennial, flow^ering in July and 

 Auguft. PurJh. A tall, ftout, hoary plant, whofe ftiff 

 round Jlem is clothed with numerous, coriaceous, veiny 

 haves, an inch and a half to two inches long, acute, coarfely 

 ferrated ; moft downy beneath. Spikes from two to four 

 inches long, in ilrong plants numerous, crowded at the top 

 of the -ftem, in a oorymbofc manner, hoary, imbricated. 

 BraBeas ovate, v/ith taper points, generally exceeding the 

 calyx, whofe teeth are alfo long and llender. Corolla large, 

 of a violet blue. 



18. V. diffufa. Spreading Vervain. Poiret in Lam. 

 n. 14. Purlh n. 7. — Spikes very long, lax, panicled, 

 widely fpreading. Brafteas acute, about as long as the 

 calyx. Stem ereft, much branched. Leaves ovato-lanceo- 

 late, ferrated, fomewhat downy. — Native of North America ; 

 cultivated at Paris, according to Poiret, on whofe authority 

 Mr. Purfh gave this Ipecies a place in his Flora. He fpcaks 

 of it as having a near refemblance to V. urticifoiia, with 

 very fmall, fomewhat purple, Jlowers. We have feen no 

 fpecimen; 



19. V. paniculata. Compound-panicled Vervain. — 

 Lamarck lUuftr. v. 1. 57. Dift. n. 8. Purfh n. 5. — 

 Spikes compound, in a corymbofe panicle. Leaves lanceo- 

 late, deeply ferrated and jagged ; tapering at the bafe ; 

 harfii on both fides, (lightly downy In the natural mea- 

 dows of the high mountains of Virginia and Carolina, 

 perennial, flowering in July and Auguft. — From four to 

 fix feet high. Flowers very numerous, purple. We have 

 from the Paris garden a fpecimen marked V. paniculata of 

 Juffieu, which anfwers well to the defcription by Poiret in 

 Lamarck's Diftionary, and is doubtlefs what they all in- 

 tended. Our fpecimen indeed is but eighteen inches high, 

 and the leaves are about two inches, not four or five, in 

 length. They taper down into fhort Jlalis, and are not 

 much pointed. Both furfaces are rough like a file, as is 

 likewife the fquare fern, which terminates in a corymbofe 

 panicle, of compound or branched Jpikes. The hraSeas are 

 ovate, with a fine point, fhorter than the calyx. Corolla 

 rather fmall. — What we received from the late Mr. Donn 

 of Cambridge, as his V . paniculata, is not this, but our 



Jlriaa, n. 17. 



20. V. corymbofa. Corymbofe Chili Vervain. " Fl. 

 Peruv. v. I. 22. t. 33. f. A." Poiret in Lam. n. 16 — 

 Spikes aggregate, corymbofe. Leaves feffile, triangular- 

 heartfhaped, wrinkled, harfh, deeply ferrated, pointed. — 

 Native of Chili, in wafte ground amongft rubbifh, flowering 

 in November and December. The Jlems are ereft, her- 

 baceous, fquare, a foot high, with oppofite branches. 

 Leaves about an inch and a half in length, diftant, ftrongly 

 veined, almoft triangular. Flower-Jlalks at the fummits of 

 the ftem and branches, oppofite, three-cleft, the lowermoft 

 axillary, all forming a corymb of oblong /pikes, of violet- 

 coloartd flowers. BraBeas lanceolate, taper-pointed. Seeds 

 four. Poiret. 



.21. V , officinalis. Common Vervain. Linn. Sp. PI. 29. 



Willd. n. 20. Fl. Brit. n. I. Engl. Bot. t. 767. Curl, 

 Lond. fafc. I. t. 41. Woodv. Suppl. t. 218. Fl. Dan. 

 t. 628. Brown n. i. (V. communis; Ger. Em. 718. 

 Verbena; Rivin. Monop. Irr. t. 56. Verbenaca ; Matth, 

 Valgr. v. 2. 399. Camer. Epit. 797.) — Spikes flender, 

 panicled. Brafteas ovate. Leaves deeply cut. Stems 

 moftly folitary, fomewhat prickly. Native of wafte ground, 

 and road-fides, in moft parts of Europe, common in 

 England, flowering in July. We received it among the 

 firft fpecimens, fent from New South Wales, in 1792, by 

 Dr. John White. Mr. Brown alfo faw it there, and in the 

 tropical part of New Holland. The root is perennial, 

 woody, branching, fending up, from each of its fummits, 

 a folitary fltm, about a foot high, curved at the bafe, 

 acutely quadrangular, fmooth, except a greater or lefs pro- 

 portion of minute hooked prickles. Leaves varioufly 

 jagged, fomewhat hairy, tapering at the bafe into a broad 

 footflalk. Flowers fmall, pale lilac, in acute /pikes, at firfb 

 denfe, but becoming long and lax as the /eeds ripen. 

 BraBeas ovate, half the length of the calyx. Seeds while 

 young enfolded in one common flcin, or tunic, almoft obli- 

 terated as they ripen, when each appears marked at the 

 fummit with excavated dots. This is the plant ufed by 

 Mr. Morley to cure the king's evil, by hanging its root 

 round the neck. Curtis has very juftly expofed his pre- 

 tenfions, and his affefted difintereftednefs. Ray long ago 

 remarked that the fenfiblc qualities of the Vervain were 

 too flight to make its many boafted virtues credible. 

 Neverthelefs it is ftill ufed, and we believe will do no harm ; 

 unlefs the patient be deluded by this m.eans to negleft what 

 might be more ferviceable. Diofcorides, whofe itpa /3olc.ni, 

 or Holy Herb, this is, firft publifhed its powerful ufejin 

 incantations, and yet he has been believed for its other 

 qualities. 



22. V. /puria. Jagged-leaved Vervain. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 29. Willd. n. 9. Ait. n. 12. Purfti n. 3,. — " Spikes 

 thread-fhaped. Brafteas longer than the calyx. Stem 

 decumbent, much branched and divaricated. Leaves \n 

 many jagged fegments."— On flate hills and lime-ftone 

 rocks, in the Illinois country, Virginia and Kentucky, 

 biennial, flowering in July and Auguil. Flowers very 

 fmall, blue. PurJh. We have never feen this plant, nor 

 had Linna;us a fpecimen. 



23. V. /upina. Traihng Spanifli Vervain. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 29. Willd. n. 21. Ait. n. ,14. Sm. Fl. Grace. 

 Sibth. t. 554, unpubl. Cluf. Hift. v. 2. 4.6. (V. facra; 

 Ger. Em. 7 1 8. I — Spikes thread-fliaped, folitary. Brafteas 

 fhorter than the calyx. Stems decumbent, branched. 

 Leaves doubly pinnatifid. Native of Spain and the Levant, 

 in fpots overflowed in winter, flowering in July. Root 

 annual. Herb fomewhat downy, fpreading every way, a 

 httle glaucous, with fquare y/t-mj- a foot long. Leaves in 

 many, narrow, wedge-fhaped, notched fegments. Spikes 

 from the ends, as well as the forks of the branches. Flowert 

 fmall, light purple, becoming diftant as the /eeds ripen. 

 BraBeas ovate, briftly like the calyx, and about half its 

 length. Seeds oblong, fmooth. 



24. V. pro/lrata. Proftrate Vervain. Ait. n. 15. — 

 " Spikes thread-fliaped, folitary. Calyx twice as long as 

 the feeds. Leaves deeply ferrated or cut." — Found by 

 Mr. Menzies, on the north-weft coaft of America ; and 

 introduced in 1794 into Kew garden. It is perennial and 

 hardy, flowering in June and July. 



25. V. cunei/ormis. Wedge-leaved Vervain. " FL 

 Peruv. V. 1. 22. t. 32. f. A." Poiret in Lam. n. 3. — 

 Spikes ternate, oblong. Brafteas lanceolate, acute, fringed. 

 Leaves three-cleft, cut. Stem ereft.— Native of fandy 



n ground 



