Verbena hastata

Last updated

Verbena hastata
Verbena hastata.JPG
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Verbenaceae
Genus: Verbena
Species:
V. hastata
Binomial name
Verbena hastata
L.

Verbena hastata, commonly known as American vervain, [1] blue vervain, [2] simpler's joy, [3] or swamp verbena, [4] is a perennial flowering plant in the vervain family Verbenaceae. It grows throughout the continental United States and in much of southern Canada.

Contents

Description

V. hastata grows as a stiffly erect stem, occasionally branching in the upper half, reaching up to 1.5 m (5 ft) tall. The stems are four-angled (square), hairy, and green to reddish in color. Leaves are opposite, simple, and measure up to 15 cm (6 in) long and 3 cm (1 in) across. [5] They have doubly-serrate margins and a variety of shapes, from lanceolate to ovate, and may have 2 lateral lobes. [6]

The inflorescence is a panicle, or group, of flowering spikes, up to 30 cm (1 ft) long at the end of the upper stems. Each flowering spike in the panicle is up to 13 cm (5 in) long, with densely packed, numerous 5-lobed flowers, which measure up to 1 cm (0.25 in) long. [5] The flowers are violet or deep purple, rarely white. [6] They open from the bottom of the spike upward, with only a ring of a few flowers open at a time. [7]

Phytochemicals

Verbena hastata contains Lophirone C, Lophirone B, Verbenalin, Verbascoside, Luteolin, Oleanolic acid, Ursolic acid and the naphthoquinone derivative 4,9-dihydroxy-α-lapachone. [8]

Taxonomy

This species is a member of the diploid North American vervains which have 14 chromosomes altogether. Hybridization seems to have played some role in its evolution, presumably between some member of a group including the white vervain (V. urticifolia), V. lasiostachys or V. menthifolia , and V. orcuttiana or a related species.

In the recent evolutionary past, there has been an incident of chloroplast transfer of one of the latter or the swamp verbena to the mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida which is a close relative of the genus Verbena . It is unknown by what mechanism this happened, but it is suspected that hybridization is not responsible. [9]

Etymology

The Latin specific epithet hastata means "spear-shaped". [10]

Distribution and habitat

V. hastata is native in the United States in all states except Alaska and Hawaii. In Canada, it is native in the provinces of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. [4] The plant prefers moist conditions and typically grows in wet meadows, wet river bottomlands, stream banks, slough peripheries, fields and waste areas. [7] It is adapted to wetlands and can spread to form small colonies. [11]

Ecology

The flowers bloom from mid- to late summer. [5]

It attracts bees and is a larval host to the common buckeye butterfly ( Junonia coenia ), [12] the verbena moth ( Crambodes talidiformis ), and the verbena bud moth ( Endothenia hebesana ). [11]

Footnotes

  1. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org.
  3. "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org.
  4. 1 2 "USDA Plants Database". plants.usda.gov.
  5. 1 2 3 "Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata)". www.illinoiswildflowers.info.
  6. 1 2 Denison, Edgar (2017). Missouri Wildflowers (Sixth ed.). Conservation Commission of the State of Missouri. p. 103. ISBN   978-1-887247-59-7.
  7. 1 2 "Verbena hastata - Plant Finder". www.missouribotanicalgarden.org.
  8. Yokosuka, Akihito; Honda, Misaki; Kondo, Hitoshi; Mimaki, Yoshihiro (2021). "Chemical Constituents of the Whole Plant of Verbena hastata and Their Inhibitory Activity Against the Production of AGEs". Natural Product Communications. 16 (4): 1934578X2110097. doi:10.1177/1934578X211009727. S2CID   233472626.
  9. Yuan & Olmstead (2008)
  10. Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for Gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN   978-1845337315.
  11. 1 2 Xerces Society (2016). 100 Plants to Feed the Bees. Storey Publishing. p. 41. ISBN   978-1-61212-886-3.
  12. The Xerces Society (2016), Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects, Timber Press.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verbenaceae</span> Family of flowering plants comprising vervains

The Verbenaceae, the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs, and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell.

<i>Verbena</i> Genus of plants

Verbena, also known as vervain or verveine, is a genus in the family Verbenaceae. It contains about 150 species of annual and perennial herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plants. The majority of the species are native to the Americas and Asia; however, Verbena officinalis, the common vervain or common verbena, is the type species and native to Europe.

<i>Cornus racemosa</i> Species of tree

Cornus racemosa, the northern swamp dogwood, gray dogwood, or panicle dogwood, is a shrubby plant native to southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. It is a member of the dogwood genus Cornus and the family Cornaceae.

<i>Verbena officinalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Verbena officinalis, the common vervain or common verbena, is a perennial herb native to Europe. It grows up to 70 cm high, with an upright habitus. The lobed leaves are toothed, and the delicate spikes hold clusters of two-lipped mauve flowers.

<i>Cirsium edule</i> Species of thistle

Cirsium edule, the edible thistle or Indian thistle, is a species of thistle in the genus Cirsium, native to western North America from southeastern Alaska south through British Columbia to Washington and Oregon, and locally inland to Idaho. It is a larval host to the mylitta crescent and the painted lady.

<i>Verbena brasiliensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Verbena brasiliensis, the Brazilian verbena or Brazilian vervain, is a flowering plant species from the vervain family (Verbenaceae). It is native to parts of South America, namely Brazil, but has spread its range in recent times and has occasionally become an invasive weed. It is an annual plant with purple flowers, and it has been introduced outside of its native range as an ornamental plant, and is now largely considered an invasive weed in these regions.

<i>Glandularia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Glandularia, common name mock vervain or mock verbena, is a genus of annual and perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the family Verbenaceae. They are native to the Americas.

<i>Cerastium glomeratum</i> Species of flowering plant in the pink family Caryophyllaceae

Cerastium glomeratum is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names sticky mouse-ear chickweed and clammy chickweed. It is native to Europe, Macaronesia to Assam but is known on most continents as an introduced species. It grows in many types of habitat. The blooming period is February, March, April, and May.

<i>Verbena bonariensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Verbena bonariensis, the purpletop vervain, clustertop vervain, Argentinian vervain, tall verbena or pretty verbena, is a member of the verbena family cultivated as a flowering annual or herbaceous perennial plant. In USA horticulture, it is also known by the ambiguous names purpletop and South American vervain. For the misapplication "Brazilian verbena" see below.

<i>Verbena urticifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Verbena urticifolia, known as nettle-leaved vervain or white vervain, is a herbaceous plant in the vervain family (Verbenaceae). It belongs to the "true" vervains of genus Verbena.

<i>Euphorbia corollata</i> Species of flowering plant

Euphorbia corollata is an herbaceous perennial plant in the family Euphorbiaceae that is native to North America. A common name for the species is flowering spurge. It has a milky sap that can cause skin and eye irritation in some people. It grows up to 1 m (3 ft) tall, with smooth stems and light green leaves arranged alternately or in whorls. Leaves are about 10 mm wide and 75 mm (3 in) long. Each stem terminates in a panicle 20 to 25 mm across. Flowers are about 6 mm across and consist of one pistillate and several staminate flowers surrounded by five white bracts - not petals but formed from the involucre at the base of the flowers. Flowering spurge blooms from June to September.

<i>Oenothera suffrutescens</i> Species of flowering plant

Oenothera suffrutescens is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known as scarlet beeblossom and scarlet gaura.

<i>Sambucus racemosa</i> Species of plant

Sambucus racemosa is a species of elderberry known by the common names red elderberry and red-berried elder.

<i>Verbena bracteata</i> Species of flowering plant

Verbena bracteata is a species of verbena known by the common names bracted vervain, bigbract verbena, prostrate vervain, and carpet vervain. It is native to North America where it is widespread, occurring throughout the continent except for northern Canada and southern Mexico. It occurs in many types of habitat, especially disturbed areas. It typically blooms between the months of May and October. This annual or biennial herb produces several hairy, spreading stems up to 30 centimeters long forming a low mat on the ground. The hairy leaves are toothed or lobed. The inflorescence is a spike of flowers which is dense with long, pointed, leaflike bracts each up to 8 millimeters long. Each small tubular flower is about half a centimeter wide and white to pale purple in color.

<i>Verbena rigida</i> Species of flowering plant

Verbena rigida, known as slender vervain or tuberous vervain, is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the family Verbenaceae. It is native to Brazil and Argentina, and is not fully hardy in temperate climates, where consequently it is grown from seed as an annual.

<i>Verbena simplex</i> Species of flowering plant

Verbena simplex, commonly known as narrowleaf vervain, is a perennial herbaceous plant plant in the Verbenaceae (vervain) family. It is native to central and eastern North America where it is found in open, dry, habitats on calcareous soil. It produces lavender flowers in the summer.

<i>Verbena stricta</i> Species of flowering plant

Verbena stricta, also known as hoary verbena or hoary vervain, is a small purple wildflower native to a large region of the central United States.

<i>Verbena canadensis</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Verbenaceae

Verbena canadensis, commonly known as rose mock vervain, rose verbena, clump verbena or rose vervain is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the verbena family (Verbenaceae) with showy pink to purple flowers.. It is native to the eastern and south-central areas of the United States. This species is widely cultivated as an ornamental, and naturalized populations have been established outside its native range, such as in the northeastern U.S.

<i>Glandularia bipinnatifida</i> Species of flowering plant

Glandularia bipinnatifida, commonly called Dakota mock vervain, prairie verbena, and Moradilla, among others, is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family (Verbenaceae).

<i>Verbena halei</i> Species of plant

Verbena halei, commonly known as Texas vervain, Texas verbena, or slender verbena, is a flowering plant in the vervain family, Verbenaceae. It is native to much of the southern United States and Mexico. Scattered populations have been found along the east coast, and its range stretches south to Florida, west to Arizona, and throughout most of Mexico. It is a perennial shrub and grows in thickets and woodland borders. Flowers bloom March to June. It has been introduced to Australia, in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.

References