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Photographer: Merel R. Black
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Family Verbenaceae
Verbena hastata L.
blue vervain, simpler's-joy, swamp verbena
Verbena: ancient Latin name of the common European vervain
hastata: spear-shaped with the basal lobes facing outward like a halberd
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| Status: | Native |
| Plant: | erect, biennial/perennial, 16"-40" tall forb, roughly hairy, branched toward the top; stems square |
| Flower: | deep blue, 5-parted, 1/8"-1/4" wide, tube hairy; inflorescence a 8" loosely-branched, terminal cluster of densely-flowered spikes; blooms July-Oct. |
| Fruit: | 4 linear, separating nutlets |
| Leaf: | opposite, lance-like, to 7" long, coarsely toothed, often with 3 lower lobes  |
| Habitat: | full sun; moist; prairies, meadows, fields, streambanks; in sandy, loamy soil |
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