white vervain
Family
VerbenaceaeScientific Name
Verbena urticifolia
Other Common Names:
nettle-leaved vervain
Habit
Upright and branched annual or shortlived perennial depending on location.
Leaves
Lanceolate to ovate in shape and up to 6 inches long and 2.5 inches wide, coarsely serrated or crenate margins. Leaves can be hairless or hairy. When hairs occur the upper surface is less hairy than the underside. Leaves are often wrinkled around the veins.
Identifying Characteristics
Can reach heights of 3-6 ft tall, stems are green and angular. Stems are densely hairy with leaves spaced evenly along the length.
Flower Seed Head
Flowers are on spikes and a single plant can have multiple spikes on mature plants.
Seed Fruit
Small nutlets that are ellipctic in shape and up to 0.25 inches long and ribbed.
Where Found
Marshes, woodlands, old fields, waster areas, pastures, roadsides
Growth Habit
upright and nonwoody
Thorns or Spines
not present
Approximate Flower Diameter
pencil
Dominant Flower Color
white
Flower Symmetry
radial symmetery
Leaf Hairs
Varies:
has hairs,
no hairs
Leaf Shape
Varies:
lance,
oval
Leaf Arrangement
opposite
Leaf Margin
serrated
Leaf Structure
simple
Leaf Stalk
shorter than leaf
Stem Hairs
Varies:
has hairs,
no hairs
Stem Cross Section
square or multi-edged
Milky Sap
not present
Root Structure
Varies:
fibrous,
taproot
Life Cycle
perennial
Ochrea
not present
Plant Type
Herb