PROSTRATE VERVAIN

PROSTRATE VERVAIN

Verbena bracteata
VERBENA FAMILY (Verbenaceae)

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This native annual or short-lived perennial grows with many branched stems spreading over the ground (A,C). Opposite, hairy, oval to lance-shaped leaves are irregularly divided, often into 3 lobes. Ascending or upright stems 1-8 inches long bear the flower spikes and hairy, leaf-like, lance-shaped bracts responsible for the species and common names. The tiny blue to purple, 5-petaled flowers are less than 1/8th inch wide (B). Look for a sprawling plant with divided leaves and flowering stem with tiny blue flowers and pointed, leaf-like bracts.

Grows along roadsides and in waste areas, flowering from May through September. At Neale Woods, it is common along the roadside near the Carl Jonas Interpretive Center. At Fontenelle Forest, it is locally common in wetter areas of the Floodplain Prairie planting east of the observation blind.

Also known as Long-Bracted Vervain.

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