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Blue Vervain

Verbena hastata L.

Blue vervain
Figure 24.—Blue vervain (Verbena hastata)

Other common names.—Verbain, false verbain, wild hyssop, simpler's-joy, ironweed.

Habitat and range.—Vervain is found in moist fields, meadows, and waste places from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and Florida, Nebraska, and Arizona.

Description.—This rather rough, finely haired herb has an erect, straight 4-sided stem, 4 to 7 feet high, usually branched above with broadly lance-shaped sharply toothed leaves. The small, usually blue, flowers are densely clustered in numerous slender panicled spikes 2 to 6 inches long.

Part used.—The herb.


Sievers, A.F. 1930. The Herb Hunters Guide. Misc. Publ. No. 77. USDA, Washington DC.
Last update Friday, March 13, 1998 by aw