Main classes of verbena
Among the main ones, we have the following:
- Garden verbena (Verbena X hybryda) is the most used in gardening. It has been described above.
- Common verbena or vervain (Verbena officinalis): Not used practically in gardening. (More information about this plant in the above list)
Picture of purple verbena (Verbena bonariensis) Purpletop vervain, clustertop vervain, Argentinian vervain, tall verbena,(Verbena bonariensis): It comes from Argentina and Brazil, although it is cultivated and naturalized in western Europe. It has dark purple flowers that are born in very elongated stems without flowers of more than one meter high. It blooms from summer to autumn. It is characterized by its resistance to drought. It is used in veterinary medicine as an abortifacient.
- Verbena canadensis: It comes from eastern North America. With creeping habits, it grows about 60 cm wide to 40 cm high dark. Purple flowers.
- Hardy verbena, vervain (Verbena hastata): From Canada and the United States, it is characterized by its spiky leaves and small purple flowers. It is very easy to grow. With expectorant and sudorific properties, it is used to fight colds, fever and stomach pain.
- Peruvian verbena (Verbena peruviana) from Peru and Brazil, it is a small creeping verbena with oval leaves that form a carpet on the floor where it spreads. It also very used as a hanging plant, especially the variety “Red Waterfall”. With characteristic little but very vivid scarlet flowers. It reproduces by cuttings.
- Pink Verbena, toronjilcillo (Verbena laciniata): A South American verbena that grows up 30 to 40 cm, although it is much expanded. Finely divided leaves, grayish green with blue flowers in heads.
- Tuberous verbena, slender vervain (Verbena rigida): From South America, it is a plant that can reach 60 cm high. Its erect stems arise from tuberous roots. fragrant and oblong leaves. Pale violet flowers, although there are red varieties. It supports fine salinity and sea winds so it is a species that is quite used to plant by the sea. It is used in China for stomach ache.
- Seashore vervain, Brazilian vervain, Field verbena, spells herb, ōwī (Verbena litoralis): Erect plant from Chile where it grows wild up to 4000 meters above sea level. Oblong or lanceolate, serrated leaves. Flowers bluish white. Its uses are similar to those of Verbena officinalis, but it is especially used to combat malaria and cough or externally for blows or sprains. You need organic matter and a mild temperature.
- Moss verbena (Verbena tenuisecta): Plant from Argentina and Chile. Prostrate form in dense clumps 15 to 30 cm tall and 7 to 15 cm wide, reminiscent of moss. Small, lanceolate finely divided green leaves. Its flowers are lilac. It needs very warm places and a quite dry, almost arid soil.
More information on vervain
This article was endorsed by Julián Masats - Technical agricultural engineer specialized in horticulture and gardening.
