6. Verbena stricta Vent. (hoary vervain)
Pl. 574 f, g;
Map 2689
Plants
perennial. Stems 20–120(–150) cm long, erect or strongly ascending, moderately
to strongly 4-angled, moderately to densely pubescent with nonglandular,
somewhat curved, more or less spreading, often pustular-based hairs, usually
also with moderate to dense, shorter, more appressed hairs. Leaves sessile or
short-petiolate, the petioles (when present) to 5 mm long, winged, the blades
1–9 cm long, at least those of the largest leaves 15–50 mm wide, ovate to
elliptic or nearly circular, those of the uppermost leaves sometimes only
lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, rounded to more commonly angled or
short-tapered to a nonclasping base, rounded to more commonly angled or
short-tapered to a bluntly or sharply pointed tip, unlobed, the margins
relatively coarsely and sometimes doubly toothed, both surfaces densely
pubescent with longer and shorter, appressed, nonglandular, sometimes
pustular-based hairs (appearing grayish), felty or roughened to the touch.
Inflorescences mostly solitary spikes, these sometimes grouped into small
panicles of 3(5) spikes, each 4–20 cm long, moderately dense (the flowers
strongly overlapping except sometimes the lowermost ones), appearing stout when
young but often relatively slender at maturity, elongating greatly with age.
Bracts 2.0–2.5 mm long, slightly shorter than to slightly longer than the
calyx, narrowly lanceolate. Calyces 3.5–5.0 mm long. Corollas 7–10 mm long, the
outer surface sparsely to moderately hairy, especially near the tip of the
tube, funnelform, purple to purplish blue (rarely white or pink), the tube
slightly broadened toward the tip, the limb 7–9 mm in diameter. Nutlets 2–3 mm
long, narrowly oblong in outline, the inner surface usually pale and with
dense, minute papillae, the outer surface grayish brown, with several
longitudinal ridges, these with several cross-ridges above the midpoint. 2n=14.
June–October.
Scattered nearly
throughout the state (nearly throughout the U.S.; Canada, but introduced east
of Ohio). Glades, upland prairies, loess hill prairies, sand prairies,
savannas, tops of bluffs, banks of streams and rivers, margins of lakes, and
openings of mesic to dry upland forests; also pastures, old fields, fallow
fields, railroads, roadsides, and open, disturbed areas.
Rare plants with
white corollas have been called f. albiflora Wadmond, and rare plants
with pink corollas have been called f. roseiflora Benke.
Moldenke (1980)
reported V. xutha Lehm. from the city of St. Louis, but without
supplemental information or citation of a voucher specimen. Intensive herbarium
searches, including at Moldenke’s personal herbarium (now at the University of
Texas), failed to disclose any support for the inclusion of this species in the
flora. Additionally, O’Leary et al. (2010) did not cite any Missouri vouchers
in their recent taxonomic revision of Verbena series Verbena.
Thus, the species has been excluded from the state’s flora. Verbena xutha
occurs in a broad band across the southern United States from Arizona east to
Alabama. It differs from V. stricta in its deeply divided leaf blades
and its somewhat less dense mature inflorescences.