Genus: Verbena

Common Names: vervain, verveine

A genus of around 150 species including both annuals and perennials. V. officinalis was considered to be a holy herb by the Greeks and the Romans as well as by other cultures up throughout the Middle Ages.  

"With this the table of Jupiter is swept, and homes are cleansed and purified. There are two kinds of it ... used by the people of Gaul in fortune-telling and in uttering prophecies, but the Magi especially make the maddest statements about the plant: that people who have been rubbed with it obtain their wishes, banish fevers, win friends, and cure all diseases without exception. . . . They say too that if a dining-couch is sprinkled with water in which this plant has been soaked the entertainment becomes merrier. " - Pliny the Elder in Historia Naturalis, Book XXV

Distribution: mostly the Americas and Asia though V. officinalis is native to Europe.

Verbena officinalis

Common name(s): common vervain, simpler's joy

Description: perennial; a wildflower used for milennia in traditional medicine and herbalism. Narrow, toothed leaves and trident-like mauve flower spikes in summer. Self-seeds freely but can be deadheaded to prevent unwanted spreading.

Height: to 1 ft. Spread: to 1 ft.

Position: full sun to partial shade, tolerates poor soil

Uses: medicine, herbalism, to attract pollinators

Winter Hardiness: to 0 F and below

Distribution: widespread in Europe, S. Asia, Africa, Australia and naturalized in parts of North and South America