V E 11 



V E R 



gnound in Peru, flowering from March to May. The 

 whole plant is briftly, two feet high, branched. Leaves 

 feffile, half clafping the ftem ; contracted at tlie bafe ; 

 divided almoft half way down into three large, oblong, 

 ferrated lobes, rough and hifpid on both fides, two or three 

 inches long, and about as broad. Spikes ihort, ternate. 

 Flotuers blue. Poiret, 



26. V. braSeoJa. Brafteated Vervain. Michaux Boreal. - 

 Ajper. V. 2. 13. Willd. Enum. 634. Purfh n. 2. (Zap- 

 pania brafteofa ; Poiret in Lam. v. 8. 843.) — Spikes 

 foUtary, with lanceolate fpreading brafteas, longer than the 

 flowers. Stem decumbent. Leaves lacmiated, very hairy. 

 — Native of Illinois and Kentucky, perennial, flowering in 

 July. Flowers light purple. Purjh. A fmall very hairy 

 plant, faid to have fome refemblance to V.fupina, n. 23, 

 but the long wide-fpreading braSeas are pecuhar. Tlie 



Jlems are from fix to nine inches in length. Spikes from the 

 ends, as well as the forks, of the branches, two or three 

 inches long. Seeds only two. 



27. V. Aubleiia. Rofe-coloured Vervain. Jacq. Hort. 

 Vind. V. 2. 82. t. 176. Linn. Suppl. 86. Willd. n. 18. 

 Ait. n. II. Purfti n. i. Curt. Mag. t. 308. (Buchnera 

 canadenfis ; Linn. Mant. 88. Obletia ; Joum. de Rozicr, 

 V. I. 367. t. 2. Erinus laciniatus ; Linn. Sp. PI. 879. 

 Lychnidea verbense tenuifoliae folio; Feuill. Peruv. v. 3. 35. 

 t. 25. ) — Spikes capitate, folitary ; cyhndrical after flower- 

 ing. Brafteas awl-fliaped, as long as the taper-pointed 



calyx. Leaves three-lobed, cut. Stem ereft Native of 



Carolina and Georgia, flowering in June and July. The 

 feeds appear to have been brought to Europe by M. Richard, 

 fenior, and were fent by him to Kew garden, in 1774. 

 The plant is biennial in our climate, requiring the (helter of 

 a frame in winter. The herbage is green, roughiih to the 

 touch. Stem a foot high, or more, fquare, leafy, branched 

 from the bottom. Leaves ftalked, broadifh, varioufly cut. 

 Fleiuers larger than moft of the genus, of a fine pink or 

 crimfon, numerous, in ftalked heads, which afterwards 

 become thick, clofe, cylindrical fpikes. The braScas are 

 very narrow, permanent, downy as well as the calyx, whofe 

 teeth are alfo very long and (lender. Seeds four, oblong ; 

 furrowed in the lower, reticulated in the upper, part. This 

 is undoubtedly a genuine and moil obvious Verbena, nor 

 can we account for the error of Linnseus, who, with the 

 ripe naked feeds on his original fpecimcn, and the long- 

 pointed calyx, referred it to Buchnera. It was called 

 Obletia, either by its difcoverer, or by La Tourrette, who 

 fent a fpecimen and figure to Linnaeus, by which the latter 

 correfted his miftake. Their intention was to honour 

 Aublet, whofe name was fometimes written Oblet. With 

 refpeft to the other Linnaean fynonym, hitherto negledled 

 by moft of thofe who have noticed this Verbena, it depends 

 entirely on Feuillee's plate and defcription, which led Lin- 

 naeus to refer this, as well as the following fpecies, to 

 Erinus, without feeing a fpecimen of either. Lamarck, 

 Poiret, and WiUdenow, apply thefe latter fynonyms to their 

 V. erinoides, Willd. Enum. 634, which is V. multtjida, FI. 

 Peruv. v. I. 21. t. 33. f. C. 



'i%.V.veronicifoHa. Speedwell-leaved Vervain. (Erinus 

 peruvianus; Linn. Sp. PI. 879. Lychnidea veronicx 

 folio, fiore coccineo ; Feuill. Peruv. v. 3. 36. t. 25.) — 

 Spikes capitate, folitary, cylindrical after flowering. 

 Brafteas awl-(haped, as long as the taper-pointed calyx. 



Leaves ovate, ferrated, acute at each end. Stem ereft 



Found by Feuillee in fields on the north fide of the river 

 de la Plata, in Paraguay. This feems to agree with the 

 laft in the Jloiuers and tnjlorefcence, differing only in the 

 fimple undivided form of the leafes; but whether that 



difference be conftant and fpecific, can be determined by 

 future comparifon of the two plants. The other fynonym 

 of Feuillee having been mifunderilood, and, as we prefume, 

 diftinguifhed without reafon from V. Aubletia, we have here 

 recorded this for the confideration of thofe who may here- 

 after meet with materials for folving our doubts. 



Verbena, in Gardening, contains plants of the hardy, 

 herbaceous, and tender exotic kinds, among which the fpecies 

 cultivated are, the Indian vervain (V. indica) ; the trailing 

 vervain (V. fupina) ; the betony-leaved vervain (V. oru- 

 bica) ; the Jamaica vervain ( V. jamaicenfis) ; the Mexican 

 vervain (V. mexicana) ; the globe-flowered vervain (V. 

 globiflora) ; the clufter-flowered vervain (V. bonarienfis) ; 

 the halbert-leaved vervain (V. haftata) ; and the three- 

 leaved vervain (V. triphylla). 



And there are many other fpecies that may be cultivated 

 for variety. 



The firft fort is an annual plant with a purplifli flower. 

 In the fecond fort the flowers are of a light blue colour, and 

 large. The third arifes with a fhrubby ftalk, and the 

 flowers grow in thick terminating fpikes about a foot in 

 length ; are large, and of a fine blue colour. The fourth 

 fort is tlu-ee or four feet high in the ftem, and much branched, 

 the flowers blowing in fuccefiion, beginning at the bottom, 

 but very few together, violet-coloured, with the throat and 

 long flender incurved tube of a white colour. The feventh 

 has four-cornered ftalks, which rife to the height of five or 

 fix feet, the flowers of which are blue, appearing late in 

 fummer. The eighth has many four-cornered furrowed 

 ftalks, which are terminated by fpikes of blue flowers, in 

 clufters, which appear in Auguft. The ninth is a very 

 fweet-fmelling under flirub, and very pleafant, hke that of 

 the lemon. 



Method of Culture Thefe plants are not raifed without 



difficulty or attention. They may be increafed by feeds, 

 which niould be fown in pots, or on a hot-bed, in the early 

 fpring, plunging the pots in the bed. When they are in a 

 ftate of growth to remove, they fhould be planted in feparate 

 pots, and r.eplunged in a frefli hot-bed, ftiade being given till 

 they have taken new root, when they muft have the manage- 

 ment of tender plants of the exotic kind. The annual forts 

 ftiould be kept in the ftove, or a glafs cafe, where there is a 

 bark-bed to plunge them in, when too large to be con- 

 tinued under the frames ; and the perennial forts may be 

 placed fimply in fuch cafes, air being admitted in a cautious 

 manner. 



Of thefe kinds, fuch as do not afford good feeds in this 

 climate, may be increafed by planting cuttings in the fum- 

 mer months in pots of good mould, placing them in the 

 bark-bed of the ftove, where they may be preferved many 

 years. The eighth fort may be raifed from feeds by fow- 

 ing them in the autumn, and by parting the roots and plant- 

 ing them out at the fame time. They fucceed beft on a 

 foft loamy foil, and are fo hardy as to thrive in the open 

 air. The ninth fort may be readily increafed, by planting 

 cuttings in the fpring or autumn in pots of good mould. 

 It fhould have the proteftion of the greenhoufe or a glafs 

 cafe. They afford variety among other potted plants in 

 the greenjioufe and ftove, and fome of the hardy forts 

 occafionally in the open ground. 



VERSENACA, in Botany, with the earlier botanifts 

 among the moderns, and even with Pliny himfelf, feems to 

 be fynonimous with Verbena, fee that article. Linnaeus 

 indeed ufes this word as the fpecific name of a common 

 Englifli fpecies of Salvia, not fuppofed by any body, that 

 we can find, to have been the fo much honoured Verbenaca 

 of the Romans, fee Pliny, book 25. chap. 9. He was led 



to 



