Hoary Vervain, Verbena stricta Vent., Minnesota native wildflowers of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Hoary Vervain	Verbena stricta Vent.	Verbena (Verbenaceae)	Upland	Late Summer
Other names and notes	Hoary Vervain grows erect on stout, square stems, up to 3 feet tall. The inflorescence is a few tall spikes branching from the main stem. The stems are dusty looking with long whitish hairs, hence the common name. The individual flowers are blue, quite small, 1/8" to 1/4" wide, 5-parted, and open individually on the densely packed spike from bottom to top with only a few open at one time on each spike. Leaves are opposite, oval to elliptical with sharp coarse teeth. The differences between this plant and Blue Vervain, V. hastata, are that V. hastata has lance shaped leaves and no hairs on the stem. The flowers are similar. The species name, stricta, refers the erect or rigid stem. Hoary Vervain prefers full sun in dry to moderate moisture sites.


Above: the tall flower spikes, fewer than on Blue Vervain.	Above: The small blue flowers open from bottom to top on the spike with only a few open at one time.	Above: The long whitish hairs on the stems, from which is derived the common name.

Below: An individual flower of Hoary Vervain	Below: The elliptical shaped leaf of Hoary Vervain

Notes: Hoary Vervain is not indigenous to the Garden Area. Martha Crone reported planting it in 1933. It was listed on her 1951 Garden Census. It was not on the 1986 Garden census, but is now listed once again on the 2009 Census. In North America it is somewhat more restricted in range than Blue Vervain. There are 10 states in the west, south and east where it is not found and it is reported in a few of the lower Canadian provinces of the east. Likewise in Minnesota, its range is mostly restricted to the lower half of the state - an area of dryer ground which the plant prefers.

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References: Plant characteristics are generally from sources 15, 16, 30, 31, 33, W2 & W3. Distribution principally from W2 and also 31, 34 and W1. Planting history generally from 1, 4 & 4a. Other sources by specific reference. See Reference List for details.

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