Identification
This native, erect perennial has square stems from 2-6 feet tall (D). Opposite, coarsely toothed, short-stalked leaves are 2-6 inches long (D,E). From one to many slender, erect flower spikes 2-6 inches long with tapered, pointed tips occur in loose, branching clusters at the top of the stem (C). Spikes consist of blue to purple, sometimes paler, tubular 1/4 inch flowers with 5 spreading lobes (B). Flowering begins at the base and proceeds to the tip of the spike, the spike elongating as flowering proceeds. Each flower produces 4 small seeds enclosed in the persistent calyx.
Grows in lowland prairies and other moist open sites, flowering from June through September. In Fontenelle Forest the planted population in a floodplain prairie did not survive the 2011 flood. It is now rare in moist floodplain sites. Populations in lower Jonas Prairie and Knull Prairie at Neale Woods have also disappeared. Although now considered rare, it would not be unexpected in moist open areas at either FF or NW.
Preference for moist sites, stalked, smooth leaves and tapered, pointed tips of the flower spikes separate this plant from similar, more common Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta), a plant of drier upland sites, which has flower spikes with rounded tips and leaves covered with dense, soft hairs.
The Teton Dakota boiled the leaves using the tea as a remedy for stomach pains. Omahas used the leaves to make a tea-like beverage.
Other common names include False or American Vervain and Blue Verbena.
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