Hoary Vervain Verbenia stricta
Description:
This native plant is part of the family Verbenaceae,
or the Vervain family, growing to a height of 3.5
meters. It is unbranched in the upper half.
Leaf: The
leaves are gray-hairy, broadly rounded, toothed along the edges, mostly stalkless and up to 4” long and 2 ½” wide.
Flower:
The flowers occur in one to several erect, narrow spikes at the top of each
plant. Each purple flower is about ¼” wide, with a small, hairy, 5-toothed
calyx and a purple corolla with 5 spreading, rounded lobes.
Blooming
months: June - September
Stem: Stems are unbranched or branched in the upper half, with spreading hairs.
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Discussion:
This bitter tasting plant is avoided by livestock and can become abundant
in over grazed uplands.
Distribution:
Common throughout the tallgrass region in
disturbed upland sites, including pastures, oil fields, degraded prairies, and
roadsides.
Native
or Introduced to
Location:
N41048.677’ W089040.972’
Copyright:
© 2004 Nancy Trainor,
References:
Keller, Carolyn. Prairie Plants of
Ladd, Doug. Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers, The Nature Conservancy, 1995.
Peterson, Roger Tory. Wildflowers Northeastern/North Central
Mohlenbroch, Robert H., and John W. Voigt. Prairie
Plants of
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