{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{speciesbox |image = Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta) on Mixed Grass Prairie of Lacreek NWR (13918328442).jpg |image_alt = Hoary vervain in full bloom in prairie |image_caption = Hoary vervain on a mixed-grass prairie of Lacreek NWR |genus = Verbena |species = stricta |authority = Vent. }}

'''''Verbena stricta''''', also known as '''hoary verbena'''<ref name=":0">{{PLANTS|id=VEST|taxon=Verbena stricta|access-date-2017-09-18}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Verbena stricta (Hoary Verbena, Hoary Vervain, Tall Vervain, Woolly Verbena) {{!}} North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox |url=https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/verbena-stricta/ |access-date=2025-12-09 |website=plants.ces.ncsu.edu}}</ref>, '''hoary vervain<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Minnesota Wildflowers|Verbena stricta (Hoary Vervain)|flower|hoary-vervain|access-date=2017-09-17}}</ref>''', '''tall vervain'''<ref name=":1" />, or '''woolly verbena<ref name=":1" />''', is a North American wildflower. It was first described by Étienne Pierre Ventenat in his work, ''Description des plantes nouvelles''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ventenat |first1=É. P. |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/66285 |title=Description des plantes nouvelles et peu connues : cultivées dans le jardin de J.M. Cels : avec figures |last2=Cels |first2=Jacques-Martin |last3=Redouté |first3=Henri Joseph |date=1799 |publisher=De l'imprimerie de Crapelet |location=A Paris |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.66285}}</ref>.

== Distribution and habitat == ''V. stricta'' is native to the contiguous United States, Quebec, and Ontario.<ref name=":0" /> It is a drought-resistant species that prefers dry, well-drained soils and ample sunlight'''<ref name=":1" />'''<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta) |url=https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/hry_vervainx.htm |access-date=2025-12-09 |website=www.illinoiswildflowers.info}}</ref>. It is mostly found in low fields, meadows, prairies, and along roadsides and other disturbed habitats'''<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />'''<ref name=":3" />.

== Description == In ideal growing conditions, ''V. stricta'' can grow up to {{convert|2|–|4|ft|m|1}}<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />. It blooms for six weeks from June to September'''<ref name=":1" />.'''

=== Flower === The inflorescence is made up of a densely clustered panicle of purple-blue or pink flowers along a hairy spike that may range from 1 to 8 inches long'''<ref name=":1" />'''<ref name=":2" />. However, a mutation that causes lessened amounts of delphinidin and the complete loss of petunidin and malvidin produces white flowers<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chai |first1=Shengyue |last2=Yang |first2=Jiaming |last3=Zhang |first3=Xiaofei |last4=Shang |first4=Xuwen |last5=Lang |first5=Lixin |date=2024-11-21 |title=Unraveling the Anthocyanin Regulatory Mechanisms of White Mutation in Verbena stricta by Integrative Transcriptome and Metabolome Analysis |journal=Genes |language=en |volume=15 |issue=12 |pages=1496 |doi=10.3390/genes15121496 |doi-access=free |issn=2073-4425 |pmc=11675223 |pmid=39766764}}</ref>. Flowers are not all open at the same time'''<ref name=":1" />'''. Each flower is zygomorphic, consisting of a short corolla, four stamens, a small, toothed calyx, and five petals with a fused base, forming a slight tubular shape'''<ref name=":1" />'''<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />. The petal lobes are unequal in size and length, with the two lateral lobes being slightly larger, and the bottom lobe bearing a small notch<ref name=":2" />. thumb|''V. stricta'' infloresence at top of spike.

=== Leaves === The leaves are green in color and grow in an opposite arrangement along the side of the plant.<ref name=":2" /> Their edges are heavily serrate, and the shape is oval to obovate with a pointed tip.<ref name=":3" /> The stem and leaves of this plant are pubescent and may appear silvery-gray due to the density of the white hair that covers them, especially along the underside<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />. Leaves lack a petiole.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

=== Fruit === As the plant ages, the spike atop the plant will elongate. It will eventually seed and encapsulate four tiny nuts per flower. These fruit are usually 0.08–0.12&nbsp;inches (2–3&nbsp;mm) in length when ripe.<ref name=":2" />'''<ref name=":1" />'''

== Biology == ''Verbena stricta'' is facultatively xenogamous<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Cruden |first1=Robert |last2=Baker |first2=Kristina |last3=Cullinan |first3=Thomas |last4=Disbrow |first4=Karen |last5=Douglas |first5=Kelly |last6=Erb |first6=John |last7=Kirsten |first7=Kenneth |last8=Malik |first8=Mary |last9=Turner |first9=Elizabeth |last10=Weier |first10=Jonathon |last11=Wilmot |first11=Sherry |date=1990-01-01 |title=The Mating Systems and Pollination Biology of Three Species of Verbena (Verbenaceae) |url=https://scholarworks.uni.edu/jias/vol97/iss4/15 |journal=Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science |volume=97 |issue=4 |pages=178–183 |issn=0896-8381}}</ref>: it can self-seed, but often cross-pollinates with ''V. hastata'' and ''V. urticifolia''<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Barber |first=Susan C. |date=October 1982 |title=Taxonomic Studies in the Verbena stricta Complex (Verbenaceae) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2418676 |journal=Systematic Botany |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=433–456 |doi=10.2307/2418676 |jstor=2418676 |bibcode=1982SysBo...7..433B |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":4" />. Hybrids are common among this species, giving rise to the Verbena stricta complex<ref name=":5" />.

''V. stricta'' is also of significance as a pollinator flower. In the southeast, is a host plant for the common buckeye butterfly'''<ref name=":1" />''' and is frequently visited by many long-tongued bees<ref name=":3" />. A specialist associated with this genus is the Nebraska vervain calliopsis bee<ref>{{Cite news |title=Calliopsis nebraskensis (Nebraska Vervain Calliopsis Bee) |url=https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/pollinators/calliopsis-nebraskensis-nebraska-vervain-calliopsis-bee.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250712092655/https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/pollinators/calliopsis-nebraskensis-nebraska-vervain-calliopsis-bee.html |archive-date=2025-07-12 |access-date=2025-12-09 |work=Minnesota Department of Natural Resources |language=en}}</ref>. Its foliage is commonly eaten by grasshoppers<ref name=":3" /> and the seeds are eaten by songbirds<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />

== Cultivation == ''V. stricta'' is prized as an ornamental plant due to its showy inflorescence and low maintenance, but it may also be considered a weed<ref name=":3" />.

Some sources purport that ''V. stricta'' may have medical benefits, but these claims are not scientifically backed. It gained the folk moniker of "feverweed" for its use against fever in the 1800s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coffey |first=Timothy |title=The history and folklore of North American wildflowers |date=1993 |publisher=Facts on File |isbn=978-0-8160-2624-1 |location=New York, NY}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}} *

{{Taxonbar|from=Q15439351}}

Category:Flora of Oklahoma Category:Flora of Kansas Category:Flora of Nebraska Category:Flora of Colorado Category:Flora of Wyoming stricta Category:Flora without expected TNC conservation status