VERBENA URTICIFO'LI A. 
NETTLE-LEAVED VERVAIN. 
Class. Order. 
DIDYNAMIA. A N G IOSPEKM I A . 
Natural Order. 
VERBENACEiE. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Introduced 
tf. America. 
3 feet. 
July, Sept. 
Perennial. 
in 1683. 
No. 448. 
Verbena, a Roman name for herbs used in ancient 
sacrifices. Urticifolia, from urtica, a nettle ; and 
folium, a leaf. 
Old authors mention two species of Verbena, 
which probably were our officinalis and supina. Of 
these, as sacred herbs, much was thought and writ- 
ten. Turner says of the latter species, “They call 
it Hierobatone, that is, an holy herb, because it is 
very good for to be hanged upon men against en- 
chantments, and to purify or cleanse with all. Some 
say, that if the broth of it be sprinkled in feasts or 
bankets, that the guests or drinkers thereby are 
made merrier.” It cannot be deemed uninstructive 
thus, occasionally, to trace the developement of the 
human mind, to compare the present with the past, 
and to contemplate the future by analogy. 
The Verbena urticifolia is an upright plant, of 
strong growth ; and although its flowers, taken se- 
parately, are small, they become showy in the aggre- 
gate. From the height of the plant, with its erect 
long spikes of blossoms, it is either suitable for the 
front of the shrubbery, or the back of the flower 
border. It may be freely increased by division. 
Hort. Kew. 2, v. 4, 40. 
