swamp verbena
Family
VerbenaceaeScientific Name
Verbena hastata
Other Common Names:
blue vervain
Habit
Blue vervain grows stiff and upright from 2-3 feet tall and is found in moist fields, meadows, and waste places. Plants sprout or germinate in the spring, flower in late summer, and die back in winter.
Leaves
The leaves are serrate and lanceolate and borne on short stalks. Leaves are oppositely arranged on square stems. Both leaves and stems are covered in stiff hairs giving the plant a rough feel.
Identifying Characteristics
Blue vervain is identified by its pale-lilac flowers, square stems, and its 2-3 feet tall stems
Flower Seed Head
The flowers are small vary in color from white to purple, blue, pink, or rose. They have 5 petals and that arranged on long numerous spikes in a panicle. The flowers bloom from June to September.
Seed Fruit
Seed pods are hairy, long, and oval shaped.
Where Found
Commonly occurs in wet meadows, damp river bottomlands, stream banks, slough peripheries, and fields and waste areas.
Growth Habit
upright and nonwoody
Thorns or Spines
present
Approximate Flower Diameter
quarter
Dominant Flower Color
yellow
Flower Symmetry
radial symmetery
Leaf Hairs
has hairs
Leaf Shape
lance
Leaf Arrangement
opposite
Leaf Margin
serrated
Leaf Structure
simple
Leaf Stalk
shorter than leaf
Stem Hairs
no hairs
Stem Cross Section
round or oval
Milky Sap
not present
Life Cycle
perennial
Ochrea
not present
Plant Type
Herb