Blue Vervain

Notes:

Verbena hastata, commonly called blue vervain, is a perennial which commonly occurs in wet meadows, wet river bottomlands, stream banks, slough peripheries, fields and waste areas.. It is a rough, clump-forming perennial with a stiff, upright habit which typically grows 2-4' tall (less frequently to 6') on square hairy stems which typically branch above. Features candelabra-like inflorescences of erect, slender, pencil-like spikes (2-6" long) of tiny, tubular, 5-lobed, densely-packed, purplish-blue flowers (1/8" wide) which appear over a long July-September bloom period. Flowers on each spike bloom bottom to top, only a few at a time. Lance-shaped, sharply toothed, green leaves (to 6" long). Genus name comes from a Latin name used for some plants in religious ceremonies and also in medicine. Specific epithet means spear-shaped.