Verbena officinalis, L.

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1972, Flora Europaea. Volume 3. Diapensiacea to Myoporaceae, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press : 123

3. V. officinalis L. , Sp. Pl. 20 (1753) .

Perennial; stems 30- 60(100) cm, erect, quadrangular, longitudinally ribbed, scabrid on the angles and diffusely branched. Leaves more or less rhombic, strigulose, the lower 4-6 x 2-4 cm, petiolate, deeply incised, lyrate to 1- to 2-pinnatifid, the upper smaller, sessile and subentire or entire. Spikes 10-25 cm in fruit, terminal, longpedunculate, solitary or in a very lax panicle; bracts ovateacuminate, ciliate, up to half as long as calyx; corolla pale pink, twice as long as the calyx. Nutlets 1-5-2 mm, reddish-brown, with 4 to 5 longitudinal ribs on the back. 2«= 14. Europe, northwards to c. 54° N.; naturalized or casual further north. All except Fa Fe Is No Rs (N, B) Sb Su; doubtfully native in Da.