Verbena

{{Short description|Genus of plants}} {{About|the plant genus}} {{Redirect|Vervain}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Eisenkraut, Passau.JPG |image_caption = Common vervain, ''Verbena officinalis'' |taxon = Verbena |authority = L.<ref name="GRIN">{{cite web |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?12680 |title=Genus: ''Verbena'' L. |date=2004-01-29 |access-date=2011-08-29}}</ref> |type_species = ''Verbena officinalis'' |type_species_authority = L. |subdivision = See text |synonyms_ref = <ref name="330551-2" >{{cite web |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:330551-2 |title=''Verbena'' L. |author= |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=14 May 2021 }}</ref> |synonyms = {{hidden begin|title = List}} *''Aubletia'' Le Monn. ex Rozier *''Billardiera'' Moench *''Burseria'' Loefl. *''Glandularia'' J.F.Gmel. *''Helleranthus'' Small *''Obletia'' Rozier *''Patya'' Neck. *''Shuttleworthia'' Meisn. *''Styleurodon'' Raf. *''Stylodon'' Raf. *''Uwarowia'' Bunge *''Verbenella'' Spach {{hidden end}} }}

'''''Verbena''''' ({{IPAc-en|v|ər|ˈ|b|iː|n|ə}}),<ref>{{cite book |title=Western Garden Book |year=1995 |pages=606–07 |publisher=Sunset Books}}</ref> also known as '''vervain''' or (in obsolete spelling) '''verveine''', is a genus in the family Verbenaceae. It contains about 150 species of annual and perennial herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plants. The majority of the species are native to the Americas and Asia; however, ''Verbena officinalis'', the common vervain or common verbena, is the type species and native to Europe.

==Naming== In English, the name ''Verbena'' is usually used in the United States and the United Kingdom; elsewhere, the terms ''verveine'' or ''vervain'' are in use.<ref>{{cite web | title=Amazing Benefits of Verveine Tea: Is This a Miracle Tea? | website=Tea Reviews | url= https://teareviews.co.uk/verveine/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613023616/https://teareviews.co.uk/verveine/ | access-date= 19 November 2022 | archive-date=2021-06-13 }}</ref>

==Description== [[File:Verbena officinalis Sturm22.jpg|thumb|left|Botanical illustration of common vervain (''V. officinalis'') from ''Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen'' by Johann Georg Sturm and Jacob Sturm, 1796]] Verbena is a herbaceous flowering plant, belonging to the Verbenaceae family, and may be annual or perennial depending on the species. The leaves are usually opposite, simple, and in many species hairy, often densely so. The flowers are small, with five petals, and borne in dense spikes. Typically some shade of blue, they may also be white, pink, or purple, especially in cultivars.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-19 |title=Year of the Verbena |url=https://ngb.org/year-of-the-verbena/ |access-date=2022-06-22 |website=National Garden Bureau |language=en-US}}</ref>

The genus can be divided into a diploid North American and a polyploid South American lineage, both with a base chromosome number of seven. The European species is derived from the North American lineage. It seems that verbena as well as the related mock vervains (''Glandularia'') evolved from the assemblage provisionally treated under the genus name ''Junellia''; both other genera were usually included in the Verbenaceae until the 1990s.<ref>{{cite journal |author=S. M. Botta |author2=S. Martinez |author3=M. E. Mulguta de Romero |name-list-style=amp |year=1995 |title=Novedades nomenclaturales en Verbenaceae |trans-title=Nomenclatural revisions in Verbenaceae |journal=Hickenia |volume=2 |pages=127–128}}</ref> Intergeneric chloroplast gene transfer by an undetermined mechanism – though probably not hybridization – has occurred at least twice from vervains to ''Glandularia'', between the ancestors of the present-day South American lineages and once more recently, between ''V. orcuttiana'' or ''V. hastata'' and ''G. bipinnatifida''. In addition, several species of verbena are of natural hybrid origin; the well-known garden vervain/verbena has an entirely muddy history. The relationships of this close-knit group are therefore hard to resolve with standard methods of computational phylogenetics.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Yao-Wu Yuan |author2=Richard G. Olmstead |name-list-style=amp |year=2008 |title=A species-level phylogenetic study of the ''Verbena'' complex (Verbenaceae) indicates two independent intergeneric chloroplast transfers |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=23–33 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2008.04.004 |pmid=18495498|bibcode=2008MolPE..48...23Y }}</ref>

==Cultivation== [[Image:Verbena bonariensis2.jpg|thumb| Purpletop vervain (''V. bonariensis'') as an ornamental plant]] Some species, hybrids and cultivars of verbena are used as ornamental plants. They are drought-resistant, tolerating full to partial sun, and enjoy well-drained, average soils. Plants are usually grown from seed. Some species and hybrids are not hardy and are treated as half-hardy annuals in bedding schemes.<ref>{{cite book |title=RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants |year=2008 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley|location=United Kingdom|isbn=978-1405332965|page=1136}}</ref>

They are valued in butterfly gardening in suitable climates, attracting Lepidoptera such as the Hummingbird hawk-moth, Chocolate albatross, or the Pipevine swallowtail, and also hummingbirds, especially ''V. officinalis'', which is also grown as a honey plant.

The hybrid cultivars "Silver Anne"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=5445 |title=RHS Plant Selector Verbena 'Silver Anne' (G) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk |access-date=2013-05-06 |archive-date=2012-12-24 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121224065446/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=5445 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and "Sissinghurst"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=4286 |title=RHS Plant Selector Verbena 'Sissinghurst' (G) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk |access-date=2013-05-06 |archive-date=2012-12-24 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121224041452/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=4286 |url-status=dead }}</ref> have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

==Pests and diseases== For some verbena pathogens, see List of verbena diseases. Cultivated verbenas are sometimes parasitized by sweet potato whitefly (''Bemisia tabaci'') and spread this pest to other crops.

==Uses== Although verbena ("vervain") has been used in herbalism and traditional medicine, usually as an herbal tonic, there is no high-quality evidence for its effectiveness.<ref name="drugs">{{cite web|title=Vervain|url=https://www.drugs.com/npp/vervain.html|publisher=Drugs.com|access-date=7 March 2018|date=2009}}</ref> Verbena has been listed as one of the 38 plants used to prepare Bach flower remedies,<ref name="Vohra2004">{{cite book|author=D. S. Vohra|title=Bach Flower Remedies: A Comprehensive Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=icG8onA0ys8C&pg=PR3|access-date=2 September 2013|date=1 June 2004|publisher=B. Jain Publishers|isbn=978-81-7021-271-3|page=3}}</ref> a kind of alternative medicine promoted for its effect on health. According to Cancer Research UK, "Essences do not prevent, control, or cure cancer or any other physical condition. Essence therapists believe it can improve your mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative-therapies/individual-therapies/essence-therapy |title=Flower remedies |publisher=Cancer Research UK |access-date=11 November 2016 }}</ref>

The essential oil of various species, mainly common vervain, is traded as "Spanish verbena oil". Considered inferior<ref>{{Cite web |title=Verbena |url=https://hyperleap.com/topic/Verbena |access-date=2022-06-22 |website=frontend |language=en |archive-date=2023-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608161025/https://hyperleap.com/topic/Verbena |url-status=dead }}</ref> to oil of lemon verbena (''Aloysia citrodora'') in perfumery,<ref name=drugs/> it is of some commercial importance for herbalism.

==In culture==  {{See also|Verbena (disambiguation)}} Verbena has long been associated with divine and other supernatural forces. It was called "tears of Isis" in ancient Egypt, and later called "Hera's tears". In ancient Greece, it was dedicated to Eos Erigineia. The generic name is the Latin term for a plant sacred to the ancient Romans.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ndDtX-RjYkC |title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names, Volume 4: R-Z |year=2000 |first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi |publisher=Taylor & Francis US |isbn=978-0-8493-2678-3 |page=2787}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NJ6PyhVuecwC |title=The Names of Plants |first=D. |last=Gledhill |edition=4th |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-86645-3 |year=2008 |page=399}}</ref> Pliny the Elder describes ''verbena'' presented on Jupiter altars; it is not entirely clear if this referred to a verbena rather than the general term for prime sacrificial herbs.{{primary source inline|date=November 2007}}

{{verse translation |lang=la |Nulla tamen Romae nobilitatis plus habet quam hiera botane. aliqui aristereon, nostri verbenacam vocant. haec est quam legatos ferre ad hostes indicavimus; hac Iovis mensa verritur, domus purgantur lustranturque. genera eius duo: foliosa, quam feminam putant, mas rarioribus foliis.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pliny the Elder |title=Naturalis Historia |pages=Liber XXV, Section LIX |url=https://la.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Naturalis_Historia/Liber_XXV}}</ref> |No plant however is so renowned among the Romans as hiera botane ('sacred plant'). Some call it aristereon, and Latin writers verbenaca. This is the plant which I mentioned as carried to the enemy by envoys. With this the table of Jupiter is swept, and homes are cleansed and purified. There are two kinds of it; one has many leaves and is thought to be female, the other, the male, has fewer leaves.<ref name="naturalis_historia_liber_xxv_lix">{{cite book |last1=Pliny the Elder |title=Natural History |pages=Book 25, Section 59 |url=https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Natural_History_(Rackham,_Jones,_%26_Eichholz)/Book_25}}</ref> |attr1=Pliny the Elder, ''{{lang|la|Naturalis Historia}}'' Liber XXV, LIX |attr2=translated by Harris Rackham }}

Pliny the Elder notes "the Magi especially make the maddest statements about the plant: that [among other things] a circle must be drawn with iron round the plant".<ref name="naturalis_historia_liber_xxv_lix" /> The common names of verbena in many Central and Eastern European languages often associate it with iron. These include for example the Dutch ''{{lang|nl|IJzerhard}}'' ("iron-hard"), Danish ''{{lang|da|Læge-Jernurt}}'' ("medical ironwort"), German ''{{lang|de|Echtes Eisenkraut}}'' ("true ironherb"), Slovak ''{{lang|sk|Železník lekársky}}'' ("medical ironherb"), and Hungarian ''{{lang|mg|vasfű}}'' ("iron grass").

In the early Christian era, folk legend stated that ''V. officinalis'' was used to stanch Jesus' wounds after his removal from the cross. It was consequently called "holy herb"<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WAagnZNb0cAC&pg=PA197 |title=Dictionary of Plant Lore |last=Watts|first=D. C. |date=2007 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=9780080546025|pages=197|language=en}}</ref> or (e.g. in Wales) "Devil's bane".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aconitum uncinatum (Appalachian Blue Monkshood, Blue Rocket, Devil's Helmet, Eastern Blue Monkshood, Eastern Monkshood, Monkshood, Southern Blue Monkshood, Wild Monkshood, Wolf's Bane) {{!}} North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox |url=https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/aconitum-uncinatum/ |access-date=2022-06-22 |website=plants.ces.ncsu.edu}}</ref>

According to the Wiccan writer Doreen Valiente, Vervain flowers signify the goddess Diana and are often depicted on ''cimaruta'', traditional Italian amulets.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Valiente |first1=Doreen |title=An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present |date=1994 |publisher=The Crowood Press |isbn=9780719826917 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XHhGDwAAQBAJ&dq=doreen+valiente+%22cimaruta%22+vervain&pg=PT88}}</ref> In the 1870 ''The History and Practice of Magic'' by "Paul Christian" (Jean-Baptiste Pitois), it is employed in the preparation of a mandragora charm.<ref>Pitois, Christian (1952). ''The History and Practice of Magic, Volume 2'', Forge Press. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DXIKAQAAIAAJ&q=mandragora+verbena p. 402].</ref> The book also describes its antiseptic capabilities (p. 336), and use as a protection against spells (pp. 339, 414).<ref>Pitois, (1952) [https://books.google.com/books?id=DXIKAQAAIAAJ&q=verbena pp. 336, 339, 414]</ref> Romani people use vervain for love and good luck.<ref>{{cite book|title=Herbal Magick: A Guide to Herbal Enchantments, Folklore, and Divination|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KpWMDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA82|author=Gerina Dunwich| date=September 2019 | publisher=Weiser Books | isbn=9781633411586 }}</ref>

While common vervain is not native to North America, it has been introduced there; for example, the Pawnee have adopted it as an entheogen enhancer and in oneiromancy (dream divination), much as ''Calea zacatechichi'' is used in Mexico.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}

An indeterminate vervain is among the plants on the eighth panel of the New World Tapestry (''Expedition to Cape Cod'').<ref name="new world tapestry">{{cite web |url=https://www.mayflower-400.com/new-world-tapestry/ |title=New World Tapestry |date=17 February 2020 |publisher=Mayflower 400 |access-date=16 July 2021 |archive-date=16 July 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210716192109/https://www.mayflower-400.com/new-world-tapestry/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the Victorian language of flowers, verbena held the dual meaning of enchantment and sensibility.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.languageofflowers.com/flowermeaning.htm|title=Language of Flowers - Flower Meanings, Flower Sentiments|website=www.languageofflowers.com|access-date=2016-11-26}}</ref>

==Species== The following species are accepted:<ref name="330551-2" /> (See also ''Aloysia'', ''Glandularia'', and ''Junellia'' for species formerly placed here.) {{div col|colwidth=24em}} *''Verbena alata'' Otto ex Sweet *''Verbena × allenii'' Moldenke *''Verbena barbata'' Graham *''Verbena × bingenensis'' Moldenke *''Verbena × blanchardii'' Moldenke *''Verbena bonariensis'' L. *''Verbena bracteata'' Cav. ex Lag. & Rodr. *''Verbena brasiliensis'' Vell. *''Verbena californica'' Moldenke *''Verbena calinfera'' G.L.Nesom *''Verbena canescens'' Kunth *''Verbena caniuensis'' Moldenke *''Verbena carnea'' Medik. *''Verbena carolina'' L. *''Verbena × clemensiorum'' Moldenke *''Verbena cloverae'' Moldenke *''Verbena dalloniana'' Quézel *''Verbena × deamii'' Moldenke *''Verbena delicatula'' Mart. & Zucc. *''Verbena demissa'' Moldenke *''Verbena dissecta'' Willd. ex Spreng. *''Verbena ehrenbergiana'' Schauer *''Verbena × engelmannii'' Moldenke *''Verbena ephedroides'' Cham. *''Verbena falcata'' G.L.Nesom *''Verbena filicaulis'' Schauer *''Verbena gemmea'' Uelman *''Verbena glabrata'' Kunth *''Verbena × goodmanii'' Moldenke *''Verbena goyazensis'' Moldenke *''Verbena gracilescens'' (Cham.) Herter *''Verbena gracilis'' Desf. *''Verbena grisea'' B.L.Rob. & Greenm. *''Verbena halei'' Small *''Verbena hastata'' L. *''Verbena hirta'' Spreng. *''Verbena hispida'' Ruiz & Pav. *''Verbena × illicita'' Moldenke *''Verbena incompta'' P.W.Michael *''Verbena intermedia'' Gillies & Hook. *''Verbena jessicae'' Nesom & G.S.Hinton *''Verbena lasiostachys'' Link – western vervain *''Verbena lindbergii'' Moldenke *''Verbena lindmanii'' Briq. *''Verbena litoralis'' Kunth – seashore vervain *''Verbena livermorensis'' B.L.Turner & G.L.Nesom *''Verbena macdougalii'' A.Heller *''Verbena madrensis'' G.L.Nesom *''Verbena malmei'' Moldenke *''Verbena menthifolia'' Benth. *''Verbena moctezumae'' G.L.Nesom & T.Van Devender *''Verbena × moechina'' Moldenke *''Verbena montevidensis'' Spreng. *''Verbena moranii'' G.L.Nesom *''Verbena neomexicana'' (A.Gray) Briq. *''Verbena officinalis'' L. *''Verbena × ostenii'' Moldenke *''Verbena ovata'' Cham. *''Verbena paranensis'' Moldenke *''Verbena parodii'' (Covas & Schnack) Moldenke *''Verbena paulensis'' Moldenke *''Verbena perennis'' Wooton – pinleaf vervain *''Verbena × perriana'' Moldenke *''Verbena × perturbata'' Moldenke *''Verbena pinetorum'' Moldenke *''Verbena plicata'' Greene *''Verbena recta'' Kunth *''Verbena regnelliana'' Moldenke *''Verbena reitzii'' Moldenke *''Verbena rigida'' Spreng. – tuberous vervain *''Verbena rugosa'' Mill. *''Verbena × rydbergii'' Moldenke *''Verbena sagittalis'' Cham. *''Verbena santiaguensis'' (Covas & Schnack) Moldenke *''Verbena scabra'' Vahl – sandpaper vervain *''Verbena scabrella'' Sessé & Moc. *''Verbena simplex'' Lehm. – narrow-leaved vervain *''Verbena sphaerocarpa'' L.M.Perry *''Verbena stricta'' Vent. – hoary vervain *''Verbena strigosa'' Cham. *''Verbena × stuprosa'' Moldenke *''Verbena supina'' L. *''Verbena townsendii'' Svenson *''Verbena urticifolia'' L. – white vervain *''Verbena valerianoides'' Kunth *''Verbena villifolia'' Hayek *''Verbena xutha'' Lehm. – gulf vervain {{div col end}}

==Gallery== <gallery> File:Verbena obsession cascade pink 163940 02.jpg |Verbena obsession cascade pink File:Verbena bracteata NPS-1.jpg|Large-bracted Vervain (''V. bracteata'') File:Verbena rigida0.jpg|''Verbena rigida'' File:Verbena speciosa1.jpg|''Verbena speciosa'' File:Superbena® Scarlet Star or Superbena® Raspberry.jpg|Superbena® Scarlet Star or Superbena® Raspberry File:Verbena stricta NPS-001.jpg|Hoary Vervain (''V. stricta'') </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Wikispecies}} * {{Commons category-inline}}

Category:Verbena Category:Garden plants Category:Verbenaceae genera Category:Medicinal plants