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Verbena species [Verbenaceae]

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Scientific Name Verbena canescens USDA PLANTS Symbol VECA5
Common Name Gray Vervain ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. 32089
Family Verbenaceae (Verbena) Wildflower Center Ref. Click Here
Description Habitat: Dry, rocky, sandy or clay soils on hillsides, ravines, fields and pastures.
Plant: Erect to widely spreading hairy perennial with one or a few stems branching from base and above; often clump-forming; 6 to 18 inches tall.
Leaves: Opposite, oblong-lanceolate, sessile; margins coarsely dentate or slightly pinnatifid; leaf surfaces hairy, veined beneath.
Inflorescence: Small, violet flowers in slender elongated spikes; each flower subtended by a small ovate-triangular bract, may be longer than the calyx; 5-toothed calyx 1/8 to 3/16-inch long; blue to violet tubular corolla about 1/4-inch across with 5 united flaring petals (salverform) with tube slightly longer than the calyx.
Bloom Period April to October.
References: "Wildflowers of Texas" by Geyata Ajilvsgi and "Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas" by Correll and Johnston.
BONAP Distribution Map

Texas Status:
Native
Scientific Name Verbena halei USDA PLANTS Symbol VEHA
Common Name Texas Vervain, Texas Verbena, Slender Verbena ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. 32100
Family Verbenaceae (Verbena) Wildflower Center Ref. Click Here
Description Habitat: Sandy or calcareous soils on hillsides, prairies, fields, woodlands and roadsides; abundant throughout most of Texas.
Plant: Erect generally smooth perennial branched from base, 1 to 2-1/2 feet tall, stems branching above.
Leaves: Various shapes of opposite leaves, 1-1/4 to 4 inches long; basal and lower stem leaves oblong to ovate, with long petioles and margins irregularly dentate or incised; mid stem leaves once or twice pinnatifid on shorter petioles; upper leaves somewhat dentate or entire and sessile.
Inflorescence: Small, violet flowers in slender elongated, panicular spikes; each flower subtended by a very small ovate-triangular bract, about half the calyx length; 5-toothed calyx 1/8 long or shorter; bluish-lavender tubular corolla about 1/4-inch across with 5 united flaring petals (salverform) with tube slightly longer than the calyx.
Bloom Period February to November.
References: "Wildflowers of Texas" by Geyata Ajilvsgi, "Wildflowers of Texas" by Michael Eason and "Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas" by Correll and Johnston.
BONAP Distribution Map

Texas Status:
Native
Scientific Name Verbena neomexicana USDA PLANTS Symbol VENE
Common Name Hillside Vervain, New Mexico Verbena ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. 32109
Family Verbenaceae (Verbena) SEINet
Reference
Click Here
Description Habitat: Desert scrub, dry washes, plains, foothills and canyons, 2000 to 6000 ft.
Plant: Slender, erect perennial, 12 to 28 inches tall, single or a few hairy stems branched from base and above.
Leaves: Opposite, narrowly ovate in outline and deeply incised-dentate or pinnatifid, 3/4 to 2 inches long, sessile or nearly so, hairy surfaces and somewhat glandular; lower leaves withering early.
Inflorescence: Small, violet flowers in 1 to 3 slender elongated spikes per stem; each flower subtended by a small ovate-triangular bract, shorter than the calyx; 5-toothed calyx 1/8 to 3/16-inch long; blue to viloet, rarely white, tubular corolla with 5 united flaring petals (salverform) slightly longer than the calyx.
Bloom Period April to November.
References: "Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas" by Correll and Johnston, SEINet and Southest Arizona Wildflowers and Plants.
Note: V. neomexicana is not supposed to exist in the Big Bend area according to the BONAP map on the right; however it appears in the SEINet Big Bend Checklist and on iNaturalist. It is possible that the images here are actually V. perennis or V. canescens; however, there are differences in leaf shape, hairiness, and bracts with these images being more like V. neomexicana in these respects.
BONAP Distribution Map

Texas Status:
Native
Scientific Name Verbena plicata USDA PLANTS Symbol VEPL
Common Name Fanleaf Vervain ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. 32076
Family Verbenaceae (Verbena) SEINet
Reference
Click Here
Description Habitat: Sandy or gravelly soils in open prairies, flats, ravines, hillsides, roadsides and disturbed areas.
Plant: Upright to decumbent perennial, 4 to 8 branches from base; 4 to 16 inches tall, densely hairy.
Leaves: Opposite, spatulate to elliptic-ovate, 5/8 to 1-5/8 inches long and 3/8 to 1 inch wide, margins incised-serrate, veins recessed on upper surface and prominent and whitish beneath; both surfaces hairy; winged petiole.
Inflorescence: Elongated spikes 2 to 10 inches long of small blue to lavender or purple 5-lobed blossoms, about 1/3-inch across, above slightly longer ovate-lanceolate bracts.
Bloom Period February to September.
References: "Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas" by Correll and Johnston, "Wildflowers of Texas" by Michael Eason, SEINet and American Southwest.
BONAP Distribution Map

Texas Status:
Native
Scientific Name Verbena xutha USDA PLANTS Symbol VEXU
Common Name Gulf Vervain ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. 32081
Family Verbenaceae (Verbena) Wildflower Center Ref. Click Here
Description Habitat: Sandy soils of beaches, roadsides, fields and blackland prairies; generally found in Southeast and South Texas with isolated populations in the Big Bend area.
Plant: Upright annual often growing in clumps; stems up to 6 feet tall, tetragonal, hairy, branched.
Leaves: Opposite, pinnatifid or 3-lobed, central lobe much larger (2 to 5 inches long) than 2 side lobes; lobes of upper leaves lanceolate; margins coarsely dentate and leaf surfaces hairy.
Inflorescence: Elongated spikes of blue-purple 5-lobed blossoms 1/2-inch wide or less with pale centers.
Bloom Period March to October.
References: "Wildflowers of Texas" by Michael Eason and "Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas" by Correll and Johnston.
BONAP Distribution Map

Texas Status:
Native

© Tom Lebsack 2023