Verbena officinalis
| Verbena officinalis | |
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| Flowering plant | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Verbenaceae |
| Genus: | Verbena |
| Species: | V. officinalis |
| Binomial name | |
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Verbena officinalis L. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Verbena officinalis, the common vervain or common verbena, is a perennial herb native to Europe. It grows up to a metre/yard high, with an upright habitus. The lobed leaves are toothed, the delicate spikes hold 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 also known 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. And of course, being the only member of its genus in much of its range, it is also simply known as "the vervain" locally.
The common names of V. officinalis in many Central and Eastern Europes 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 altogether.
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Wikipedia