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Verbena officinalis
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Verbena officinalis
Verbena officinalis, the common vervain or common verbena, is a perennial herb native to Europe. It grows up to 70 cm (28 in) high, with an upright habitus. The lobed leaves are toothed, and the delicate spikes hold clusters of two-lipped mauve flowers.
This plant prefers limey soils; it is occasionally grown as an ornamental plant but perhaps more often for the powerful properties some herbalists ascribe to it. Propagation is by root cuttings or seed. It is widely naturalised outside its native range, for example in North America.
It is known also as simpler's joy or holy herb, or more ambiguously as mosquito plant or wild hyssop. The common name blue vervain is also sometimes used, but also refers to V. hastata. Being the only member of its genus in much of its range, it is also simply known as vervain locally.
The common names of V. officinalis in many Central and Eastern European languages often associate it with iron, for example:
Common vervain was scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus his 1753 Species Plantarum. The scientific name references the Ancient Roman term verbena, used for any sacrificial herb considered very powerful (as described e.g. by Pliny the Elder). Officinalis, meanwhile, is Latin for "used in medicine or herbalism".
One of the few species of Verbena native to regions outside the Americas, it is derived from the lineage nowadays occurring widely across North America. It might be closest to a group including such species as the white vervain (V. urticifolia), V. lasiostachys or V. menthifolia, and perhaps the swamp verbena (V. hastata). As these, it is diploid with 14 chromosomes.
Numerous local varieties have been described, some of them as distinct species or subspecies. The following are often accepted today:
The Texas vervain (V. halei) is sometimes included in V. officinalis as a subspecies or variety. But despite the outward similarity, biogeography alone strongly suggests there is really no justification to include this North American native here, and DNA sequence data agrees. Instead, V. halei seems to be closely related to V. macdougalii, perhaps with some interbreeding with the V. menthifolia lineage which might explain its Common Vervain-like traits.
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Verbena officinalis
Verbena officinalis, the common vervain or common verbena, is a perennial herb native to Europe. It grows up to 70 cm (28 in) high, with an upright habitus. The lobed leaves are toothed, and the delicate spikes hold clusters of two-lipped mauve flowers.
This plant prefers limey soils; it is occasionally grown as an ornamental plant but perhaps more often for the powerful properties some herbalists ascribe to it. Propagation is by root cuttings or seed. It is widely naturalised outside its native range, for example in North America.
It is known also as simpler's joy or holy herb, or more ambiguously as mosquito plant or wild hyssop. The common name blue vervain is also sometimes used, but also refers to V. hastata. Being the only member of its genus in much of its range, it is also simply known as vervain locally.
The common names of V. officinalis in many Central and Eastern European languages often associate it with iron, for example:
Common vervain was scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus his 1753 Species Plantarum. The scientific name references the Ancient Roman term verbena, used for any sacrificial herb considered very powerful (as described e.g. by Pliny the Elder). Officinalis, meanwhile, is Latin for "used in medicine or herbalism".
One of the few species of Verbena native to regions outside the Americas, it is derived from the lineage nowadays occurring widely across North America. It might be closest to a group including such species as the white vervain (V. urticifolia), V. lasiostachys or V. menthifolia, and perhaps the swamp verbena (V. hastata). As these, it is diploid with 14 chromosomes.
Numerous local varieties have been described, some of them as distinct species or subspecies. The following are often accepted today:
The Texas vervain (V. halei) is sometimes included in V. officinalis as a subspecies or variety. But despite the outward similarity, biogeography alone strongly suggests there is really no justification to include this North American native here, and DNA sequence data agrees. Instead, V. halei seems to be closely related to V. macdougalii, perhaps with some interbreeding with the V. menthifolia lineage which might explain its Common Vervain-like traits.
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