2. Verbena Urticifolia L. White Or Nettle-Leaved Vervain

Fig. 3553

Verbena urticifolia L. Sp. Pl. 20. 1753.

V. urticifolia riparia Britton, Mem. Torr. Club 5: 276.

1894. V. riparia Raf.; Small & Heller, Mem. Torr. Club 3: 12.

1892.

Perennial, usually pubescent; stem slender, strict, erect, 4-sided, paniculately branched above, 3°-5° high, the branches upright. Leaves ovate, oblong, or oblong-lanceolate, all petioled, or the uppermost sessile, serrate-dentate all around, or incised, sometimes 3-cle.ft near the base, thin, acute or acuminate, mostly rounded at the base, 1 1/2' - 5' long; spikes numerous, filiform, erect, or spreading, at length 4'-6' long; fruits oblong, scattered, not at all imbricated, about 1" high; bracts ovate, acuminate, shorter than the calyx; corolla white, blue or pale purple, its limb about 1" broad.

In fields and waste places, New Brunswick to South Dakota, Kansas, Florida and Texas. Hybridizes with V. bracteosa, V. hastata and V. stricta. June-Sept.

Verbena carolinensis (Walt.) Gmel., with sessile, spatulate to oblong leaves and larger bluish. flowers, native of the Southeastern States, is recorded as occurring north to Virginia.

3. Verbena Hastata L. Blue Or False Vervain. Wild Hyssop

Fig. 3554

Verbena hastata L. Sp. Pl. 20. 1753. Verbena pinnatifida Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 57. 1791. Verbena paniculata Lam. Encycl. 8: 548. 1808. Verbena hastata pinnatifida Britton, Mem. Torr. Club 5: 276. 1894.

Perennial, roughish-puberulent; stem erect, strict, 4-sided, usually branched above, 3°-7° high. Leaves oblong-lanceolate or lanceolate, petioled, acute or acuminate at the apex, narrowed at the base, serrate or incised-dentate with acute teeth, sometimes pinnatifid, 3-6' long, the lower sometimes hastately 3- lobed at the base; spikes numerous, panicled, slender, usually peduncled, 2'-6' long; fruits densely imbricated on the spikes, 1"- 1 1/2" high; bracts ovate, acuminate, shorter than the calyx; corolla blue, white, or sometimes pink, its limb about 1 1/2" broad.

In moist fields, meadows and in waste places, Nova Scotia to British Columbia, Florida, Nebraska and Arizona. Hybridizes with V. stricta and V. bracteosa. American vervain. Purvain. Iron-weed. June-Sept.

4. Verbena Angustifolia Michx. Narrow-Leaved Vervain

Fig. 3555

V. angustifolia Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 14. 1803.

Perennial, roughish-puberulent or pubescent; stem slender, simple or branched, 4-sided above, 1°-2° high. Leaves linear, spatulate or lanceolate, obtuse or subacute at the apex, cuneate at the base and tapering into short petioles, serrate or serrulate, veiny, 1 1/2'- 3' long, 2"-s" wide; spikes mostly solitary at the ends of the branches, usually peduncled, slender, dense, 2'-5' long; fruits overlapping or the lower somewhat distant, 1 1/2" high; bracts lanceolate, acuminate, equalling or shorter than the calyx; corolla purple or blue, about 3" long, its limb about as broad, the lobes obovate or oblong.

In dry fields, Massachusetts to Florida, west to Minnesota, Kansas and Arkansas. Hybridizes with V. stricta and V. bracteosa. June-Aug.