Verbena
Encyclopedia
Verbena verbenas or vervains, is a genus
in the family Verbenaceae
. It contains about 250 species
of annual
and perennial
herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plant
s. The majority of the species are native to the New World
from Canada
south to southern Chile
, but some are also native in the Old World
, mainly in Europe
. These include Common Vervain (V. officinalis) and V. supina.
The leaves
are usually opposite, simple, and in many species hairy, often densely so. The flower
s are small, with five petals, and borne in dense spikes. Typically some shade of blue, they may also be white, pink, or purple, especially in cultivar
s.
The genus can be divided into a diploid North American and a polyploid South American lineage, both with a base chromosome number
of 7. The European species derived from the North American lineage. It seems that Verbena as well as the related mock vervains (Glandularia) evolve
d from the assemblage provisionally treated under the genus name Junellia; both other genera were usually included in the Verbenaceae until the 1990s. Intergeneric chloroplast
gene transfer by an undetermined mechanism – though probably not hybridization – has occurred at least twice from vervains to Glandularia, between the ancestors of the present-day South America
n lineages and once more recently, between V. orcuttiana or Swamp Verbena (V. hastata) and G. bipinnatifida. In addition, several species of Verbena are of natural hybrid origin; the well-known Garden Vervain has an entirely muddy history. The relationships of this close-knit group are therefore hard to resolve with standard methods of computational phylogenetics
.
Some species, hybrids and cultivar
s of vervain are used as ornamental plant
s. They are valued in butterfly gardening
in suitable climates, attracting Lepidoptera
such as the Hummingbird Hawk-moth
(Macroglossum stellatarum), Chocolate Albatross (Appias lyncida), or the Pipevine Swallowtail
(Battus philenor), and also hummingbird
s, especially Common Vervain (V. officinalis), which is also grown as a honey plant.
For some vervain pathogen
s, see List of verbena diseases. Cultivated vervains are sometimes parasitized by Sweet potato whitefly
(Bemisia tabaci) and spread this pest to other crops.
Vervain has longstanding use in herbalism
and folk medicine
, usually as a herbal tea. Nicholas Culpeper
's 1652 The English Physitian discusses folk uses. Among other effects, it may act as a galactagogue
and possibly sex steroid
analogue. The plants are also sometimes used as abortifacient
.
The essential oil
of various species - mainly Common Vervain - is traded as Spanish Verbena oil. Considered inferior to oil of Lemon Verbena
(Aloysia citrodora) in perfumery, it is of some commercial importance for herbalism and it seems to be a promising source of medical compounds. Verveine, the famous green liqueur
from the region of Le Puy-en-Velay
(France
) is flavored with these vervains.
Verbena has long been associated with divine
and other supernatural
forces. It was called "tears of Isis
" in Ancient Egypt
, and later on "Juno
's tears". In Ancient Greece
, it was dedicated to Eos Erigineia. In the early Christian
era, folk legend stated that Common Vervain (V. officinalis) was used to staunch Jesus
' wounds after his removal from the cross
. It was consequently called "Holy Herb" or (e.g. in Wales
) "Devil's bane".
Vervain flowers are engraved on cimaruta
, Italian
anti-stregheria
charm
s. In the 1870 The History and Practice of Magic by "Paul Christian" (Jean Baptiste Pitois
) it is employed in the preparation of a mandragora charm.
While Common Vervain is not native to North America
, it has been introduced there and for example the Pawnee have adopted it as an entheogen
enhancer and in oneiromancy
, much like Calea zacatechichi
is used in Mexico
.
The generic name is the Latin
term for a plant sacred to the Ancient Romans
. Pliny the Elder
describes verbena presented on Jupiter
altars; it is not entirely clear if this referred to a Verbena rather than the general term for prime sacrificial herbs.
The common names of Common Vervain in many Central and Eastern European languages often associate it with iron
. These include for example the Dutch
("iron-hardener"), Danish
("medical ironwort"), German
("true ironherb"), Slovak
("medical ironherb"), and Hungarian
("iron grass").
In hanakotoba
(花言葉, Japan
ese flower-language
), vervains are called bijozakura (美女桜) and are a symbol of cooperativeness. In Western culture, they are the birthday flower
of July 29.
An indeterminate vervain is among the plants on the eighth panel of the New World Tapestry
("Expedition to Cape Cod"), embroidered in 1602/03.
In the William Faulkner
short story "An Odor of Verbena", vervain (referred to as verbena) is used symbolically and described as "the only scent that can be smelled above the scent of horses and courage", similar to the symbolic use of honeysuckle
in "The Sound and the Fury".
Hazlitt's Faiths and Folklore (1905) quotes Aubrey's Miscellanies (1721), to wit:
, author L. J. Smith
uses vervain to protect humans from vampire
s, in an extension of vervain's fabled magic-suppression powers against witches. In The Struggle, Volume II, the vampire Stefan instructs the human Elena that vervain can "protect you against bewitchment, and it can keep your mind clear if someone is using Powers against you." He tells her how it is prepared and used, "Once I've extracted the oil from the seeds, you can rub it into your skin, or add it to a bath. And you can make the dried leaves into a sachet and carry it with you, or put it under your pillow at night", but gives her an unprepared sprig for protection in the meantime.
In 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Mario Vargas Llosa's 1977 novel "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter
," one of the major characters, Pedro Camacho, constantly drinks "verbena-and-mint tea" instead of coffee. The character, a writer of radio soap operas, claims that it "clears the synapses."
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
in the family Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae, commonly known as the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell.Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that...
. It contains about 250 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of annual
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
and perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s. The majority of the species are native to the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
south to southern Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, but some are also native in the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
, mainly in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. These include Common Vervain (V. officinalis) and V. supina.
The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are usually opposite, simple, and in many species hairy, often densely so. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are small, with five petals, and borne in dense spikes. Typically some shade of blue, they may also be white, pink, or purple, especially in cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s.
The genus can be divided into a diploid North American and a polyploid South American lineage, both with a base chromosome number
Karyotype
A karyotype is the number and appearance of chromosomes in the nucleus of an eukaryotic cell. The term is also used for the complete set of chromosomes in a species, or an individual organism.p28...
of 7. The European species derived from the North American lineage. It seems that Verbena as well as the related mock vervains (Glandularia) evolve
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
d from the assemblage provisionally treated under the genus name Junellia; both other genera were usually included in the Verbenaceae until the 1990s. Intergeneric chloroplast
Chloroplast
Chloroplasts are organelles found in plant cells and other eukaryotic organisms that conduct photosynthesis. Chloroplasts capture light energy to conserve free energy in the form of ATP and reduce NADP to NADPH through a complex set of processes called photosynthesis.Chloroplasts are green...
gene transfer by an undetermined mechanism – though probably not hybridization – has occurred at least twice from vervains to Glandularia, between the ancestors of the present-day South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n lineages and once more recently, between V. orcuttiana or Swamp Verbena (V. hastata) and G. bipinnatifida. In addition, several species of Verbena are of natural hybrid origin; the well-known Garden Vervain has an entirely muddy history. The relationships of this close-knit group are therefore hard to resolve with standard methods of computational phylogenetics
Computational phylogenetics
Computational phylogenetics is the application of computational algorithms, methods and programs to phylogenetic analyses. The goal is to assemble a phylogenetic tree representing a hypothesis about the evolutionary ancestry of a set of genes, species, or other taxa...
.
Ecology and human uses
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s of vervain are used as ornamental plant
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
s. They are valued in butterfly gardening
Butterfly gardening
Butterfly gardening is a growing school of gardening, specifically wildlife gardening, that is aimed at creating an environment that attracts butterflies, as well as certain moths, such as those in the Hemaris genus. Butterfly gardening is often aimed at inviting those butterflies and moths to lay...
in suitable climates, attracting Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
such as the Hummingbird Hawk-moth
Hummingbird Hawk-moth
Macroglossum stellatarum, known as the Hummingbird Hawk-moth, is a species of Sphingidae. Its long proboscis and its hovering behaviour, accompanied by an audible humming noise, make it look remarkably like a hummingbird while feeding on flowers...
(Macroglossum stellatarum), Chocolate Albatross (Appias lyncida), or the Pipevine Swallowtail
Pipevine swallowtail
The Pipevine Swallowtail is a swallowtail butterfly found in North and Central America. The butterflies are black with iridescent blue hind wings. They are found in many different habitats, but are most commonly found in forests...
(Battus philenor), and also hummingbird
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...
s, especially Common Vervain (V. officinalis), which is also grown as a honey plant.
For some vervain pathogen
Pathogen
A pathogen gignomai "I give birth to") or infectious agent — colloquially, a germ — is a microbe or microorganism such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus that causes disease in its animal or plant host...
s, see List of verbena diseases. Cultivated vervains are sometimes parasitized by Sweet potato whitefly
Sweet potato whitefly
Bemisia tabaci is a species of whitefly found around the world and probably native to India.-Common names:*mosca branca *cotton whitefly ,*mosca blanca ,*sweet potato whitefly ,...
(Bemisia tabaci) and spread this pest to other crops.
Vervain has longstanding use in herbalism
Herbalism
Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...
and folk medicine
Folk medicine
-Description:Refers to healing practices and ideas of body physiology and health preservation known to a limited segment of the population in a culture, transmitted informally as general knowledge, and practiced or applied by anyone in the culture having prior experience.All cultures and societies...
, usually as a herbal tea. Nicholas Culpeper
Nicholas Culpeper
Nicholas Culpeper was an English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer. His published books include The English Physician and the Complete Herbal , which contain a rich store of pharmaceutical and herbal knowledge, and Astrological Judgement of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick ,...
's 1652 The English Physitian discusses folk uses. Among other effects, it may act as a galactagogue
Galactagogue
A galactagogue is a substance that promotes lactation in humans and other animals. It may be synthetic, plant-derived, or endogenous.-Herbal:The most commonly cited galactagogues are herbal...
and possibly sex steroid
Sex steroid
Sex steroids, also known as gonadal steroids, are steroid hormones that interact with vertebrate androgen or estrogen receptors. Their effects are mediated by slow genomic mechanisms through nuclear receptors as well as by fast nongenomic mechanisms through membrane-associated receptors and...
analogue. The plants are also sometimes used as abortifacient
Abortifacient
An abortifacient is a substance that induces abortion. Abortifacients for animals that have mated undesirably are known as mismating shots....
.
The essential oil
Essential oil
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils or aetherolea, or simply as the "oil of" the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove...
of various species - mainly Common Vervain - is traded as Spanish Verbena oil. Considered inferior to oil of Lemon Verbena
Lemon verbena
Aloysia citrodora is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family, Verbenaceae, that is native to Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. Common names include Lemon Verbena and Lemon Beebrush. It was brought to Europe by the Spanish in the 17th...
(Aloysia citrodora) in perfumery, it is of some commercial importance for herbalism and it seems to be a promising source of medical compounds. Verveine, the famous green liqueur
Liqueur
A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.The...
from the region of Le Puy-en-Velay
Le Puy-en-Velay
Le Puy-en-Velay is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France.Its inhabitants are called Ponots.-History:Le Puy-en-Velay was a major bishopric in medieval France, founded early, though its early history is legendary...
(France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) is flavored with these vervains.
Cultivation
Verbena plants are drought-resistant, tolerating full to partial sun, and enjoy well-drained, average soils. Plants are usually grown from seed. Once the plants are established, they require little care and will spread out to cover the flower bed space allotted for them.Vervains in human culture
- See also Verbena (disambiguation)Verbena (disambiguation)-Plants:* Of the family Verbenaceae:** Verbena, the vervain genus** Lemon Verbena, Aloysia citrodora** Mock verbenas, genus Glandularia** Pineapple Verbena, Nashia inaguensis** Shrub verbenas, genus Lantana* Other:...
Divinity
Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...
and other supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
forces. It was called "tears of Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
" in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, and later on "Juno
Juno (mythology)
Juno is an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister of the chief god Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. Juno also looked after the women of Rome. Her Greek equivalent is Hera...
's tears". In Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, it was dedicated to Eos Erigineia. In the early Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
era, folk legend stated that Common Vervain (V. officinalis) was used to staunch Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
' wounds after his removal from the cross
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
. It was consequently called "Holy Herb" or (e.g. in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
) "Devil's bane".
Vervain flowers are engraved on cimaruta
Cimaruta
Cimaruta : Also called Witch’s Charm, and Cima di Ruta. An old protective charm dating back to the 19th century, depicting a variety of symbols or charms in protection against the Evil Eye....
, Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
anti-stregheria
Stregheria
Stregheria is a form of ethnic Italian form of Wicca originating in the United States, popularized by Raven Grimassi since the 1980s. Stregheria is sometimes referred to as La Vecchia Religione The word stregheria is an archaic Italian word for "witchcraft", the modern Italian word being...
charm
Amulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
s. In the 1870 The History and Practice of Magic by "Paul Christian" (Jean Baptiste Pitois
Jean Baptiste Pitois
Jean Baptiste Pitois, also known as Jean Baptiste or Paul Christian was a French author, known for The History and Practice of Magic, first published in France in 1870.-Life:...
) it is employed in the preparation of a mandragora charm.
While Common Vervain is not native to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, it has been introduced there and for example the Pawnee have adopted it as an entheogen
Entheogen
An entheogen , in the strict sense, is a psychoactive substance used in a religious, shamanic, or spiritual context. Historically, entheogens were mostly derived from plant sources and have been used in a variety of traditional religious contexts...
enhancer and in oneiromancy
Oneiromancy
Oneiromancy is a form of divination based upon dreams; it is a system of dream interpretation that uses dreams to predict the future.-Ancient Egyptian:...
, much like Calea zacatechichi
Calea zacatechichi
Calea zacatechichi, also known as Dream Herb, Leaf of God, and Bitter Grass, is a plant used by the indigenous Chontal of the Mexican state of Oaxaca for oneiromancy The plant naturally occurs from southern Mexico to northern Costa Rica...
is used in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
The generic name is the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
term for a plant sacred to the Ancient Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
describes verbena presented on Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
altars; it is not entirely clear if this referred to a Verbena rather than the general term for prime sacrificial herbs.
The common names of Common Vervain in many Central and Eastern European languages often associate it with iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
. These include for example the Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
("iron-hardener"), Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
("medical ironwort"), German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
("true ironherb"), Slovak
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
("medical ironherb"), and Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
("iron grass").
In hanakotoba
Hanakotoba
Hanakotoba . In this practice plants were given codes and passwords. Physiological effects and action under the color of the flowers, put into words the impressions of nature and the presence of thorns with the height of tall plants, flowers and garlands of flowers through the various types...
(花言葉, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese flower-language
Language of flowers
The language of flowers, sometimes called floriography, was a Victorian-era means of communication in which various flowers and floral arrangements were used to send coded messages, allowing individuals to express feelings which otherwise could not be spoken...
), vervains are called bijozakura (美女桜) and are a symbol of cooperativeness. In Western culture, they are the birthday flower
Birthday flowers
Birthday flowers are ascribed by tradition for those born on any given date in the year in Europe and the West. Not all are precisely flowers, however.They are listed below.-January:*1 - oak geranium*2 - Rosa multiflora*3 - cactus*4 - aloe*5 - hydrangea...
of July 29.
An indeterminate vervain is among the plants on the eighth panel of the New World Tapestry
New World Tapestry
The New World Tapestry is the largest stitched embroidery in the world, larger than the Bayeux Tapestry. It depicts English colonisation attempts in Newfoundland, North America, the Guyanas and Bermuda between the years 1583 and 1642, when the English Civil War began.Work began on the tapestry in...
("Expedition to Cape Cod"), embroidered in 1602/03.
In the William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
short story "An Odor of Verbena", vervain (referred to as verbena) is used symbolically and described as "the only scent that can be smelled above the scent of horses and courage", similar to the symbolic use of honeysuckle
Honeysuckle
Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 180 species of honeysuckle, 100 of which occur in China; Europe, India and North America have only about 20 native species each...
in "The Sound and the Fury".
Hazlitt's Faiths and Folklore (1905) quotes Aubrey's Miscellanies (1721), to wit:
"Vervain and Dill / Hinder witches from their will."In the series of young adult novels The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire horror series of novels written by L. J. Smith. The story centers around Elena Gilbert, a high school girl torn between two vampire brothers. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991, but pressure from readers led Smith to write a fourth...
, author L. J. Smith
L. J. Smith (author)
Lisa Jane Smith, known professionally as L.J. Smith, is an American author of young-adult literature. Her books, which combine elements of the genres of supernatural, horror, science fiction/fantasy, and romance, are populated with young and apparently young human and supernatural characters...
uses vervain to protect humans from vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s, in an extension of vervain's fabled magic-suppression powers against witches. In The Struggle, Volume II, the vampire Stefan instructs the human Elena that vervain can "protect you against bewitchment, and it can keep your mind clear if someone is using Powers against you." He tells her how it is prepared and used, "Once I've extracted the oil from the seeds, you can rub it into your skin, or add it to a bath. And you can make the dried leaves into a sachet and carry it with you, or put it under your pillow at night", but gives her an unprepared sprig for protection in the meantime.
In 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Mario Vargas Llosa's 1977 novel "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter is the fifth novel by Mario Vargas Llosa. It was published by Editorial Seix Barral, S.A., Spain, in 1977. Set in Peru during the 1950s, it is the story of an 18 year old student who falls for a 32 year old divorcee...
," one of the major characters, Pedro Camacho, constantly drinks "verbena-and-mint tea" instead of coffee. The character, a writer of radio soap operas, claims that it "clears the synapses."
Selected species
- See also AloysiaAloysiaAloysia is a genus of flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. The roughly 35 species of aromatic shrubs it contains are generally known as beebrushes, with the most well-known being Lemon Verbena...
, GlandulariaGlandulariaGlandularia, called mock vervains or mock verbenas, is a genus of annual and perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the vervain family, Verbenaceae...
and Junellia for species formerly placed here.
- Verbena alata Cham.
- Verbena andalgalensis Moldenke
- Verbena atacamensis Reiche
- Verbena australis Moldenke
- Verbena balansae Briq.
- Verbena bangiana Moldenke
- Verbena berterii (Meisn.) Schauer
- Verbena berterii f. albiflora Moldenke
- Verbena berterii f. berterii
- Verbena bonariensisVerbena bonariensisVerbena bonariensis is a member of the verbena family cultivated as a garden annual or perennial...
L. – Purpletop Vervain, Clustertop Vervain, Tall Verbena, Pretty Verbena, "South American vervain", "purpletopPurpletopTridens flavus is a large, robust perennial bunchgrass native to North America. The seeds are purple, giving the grass its common name. The seeds are also oily, leading to its other common name, "greasegrass". It reproduces by seed and tillers. The grass is often confused with Johnson...
" - Verbena bracteataVerbena bracteataVerbena bracteata is a species of verbena known by the common names bigbract verbena, prostrate vervain, and carpet vervain. It is native to North America where it is widespread, occurring throughout the continent except for northern Canada and southern Mexico. It occurs in many types of habitat,...
Lag. & Rodr. – Large-bracted Vervain - Verbena brasiliensisVerbena brasiliensisBrazilian Verbena or Brazilian Vervain, Verbena brasiliensis, is a flowering plant species from the vervain family...
– Brazilian Verbena, Brazilian Vervain - Verbena californicaVerbena californicaVerbena californica is a rare species of verbena known by the common names California vervain and Red Hills vervain. This flower is endemic to Tuolumne County, California, where it is known from ten or eleven occurrences in the Red Hills, a section of the Sierra Nevada foothills near Chinese Camp....
– California Vervain, Red Hills Vervain - Verbena canescens Kunth
- Verbena caniuensis Moldenke
- Verbena carnea Medik.
- Verbena carolina L.
- Verbena carollata Briq.
- Verbena catamarcensis Moldenke
- Verbena chacensis Moldenke
- Verbena clavata Ruiz & Pav.
- Verbena cloverae Moldenke
- Verbena cochabambensis Moldenke
- Verbena concepcionis Moldenke
- Verbena cumingii Moldenke
- Verbena cuneifolia Ruiz & Pav.
- Verbena × deamii
- Verbena delicatula Mart. & Zucc.
- Verbena demissaVerbena demissaVerbena demissa is a species of plant in the Verbenaceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.-Source:...
- Verbena ehrenbergiana Schauer
- Verbena × engelmannii
- Verbena ephedroides Cham.
- Verbena ephedroides var. entreriensis Tronc.
- Verbena ephedroides var. ephedroides
- Verbena fasciculata Benth.
- Verbena ferreyrae Moldenke
- Verbena filicaulis Schauer
- Verbena gentryi Moldenke
- Verbena glabrata Kunth
- Verbena glutinosa Kuntze
- Verbena goyazensis Moldenke
- Verbena gracilescens (Cham.) Herter
- Verbena gracilis Desf.
- Verbena grisea B.L.Rob. & Greenm.
- Verbena halei – Texas Vervain Small Munir (sometimes included in V. officinalis)
- Verbena hastataVerbena hastataVerbena hastata is a flowering plant in the vervain family, Verbenaceae. It is a herb with opposite, simple leaves which have double-serate margins, borne on stiffly erect, branching square stems. The flowers appear in summer and are purple...
– Swamp Verbena, Blue Vervain - Verbena hayekii Moldenke
- Verbena hintonii Moldenke
- Verbena hirta Spreng.
- Verbena hispida Ruiz & Pav.
- Verbena imbricata Wooton & Standl.
- Verbena inamoena Briq.
- Verbena intermedia Gillies & Hook.
- Verbena intermedia f. albiflora Moldenke
- Verbena intermedia f. intermedia
- Verbena intermedia var. intermedia
- Verbena intermedia var. lanuginosa Moldenke
- Verbena johnstonii (Moldenke) G. L. Nesom
- Verbena kuhlmannii Moldenke
- Verbena landbeckii Phil.
- Verbena lasiostachysVerbena lasiostachysVerbena lasiostachys is a species of verbena known by the common name western vervain. It is native to western North America from Oregon to Baja California, where it is widespread and occurs in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas, where it grows as a common weed. This perennial herb...
Link - Verbena lindbergi Moldenke
- Verbena lindmanii Briq.
- Verbena litoralisVerbena litoralisVerbena litoralis is a species of verbena known by the common names seashore vervain and Brazilian vervain, and in Hawaiian, ōwī. It is native to the Americas from Mexico south through Central and South America to Argentina and Chile. It is present throughout the world as an introduced species and...
Kunth - Verbena lobata Vell.
- Verbena longifolia M.Martens & Galeotti
- Verbena lucanensis Moldenke
- Verbena macdougalii A.Heller
- Verbena macrodonta L.M.Perry
- Verbena malmii Moldenke
- Verbena menthifoliaVerbena menthifoliaVerbena menthifolia is a species of verbena known by the common name mint vervain. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it occurs in many types of open, dry habitat such as desert scrub. This perennial herb produces one or more rough-haired, erect stems up to...
Benth. - Verbena minutiflora Briq.
- Verbena montevidensis Spreng.
- Verbena monticola Moldenke
- Verbena multiglandulosa Moldenke
- Verbena neomexicana (A.Gray) Small
- Verbena neomexicana var. hirtella L.M.Perry
- Verbena neomexicana var. neomexicana
- Verbena neomexicana var. xylopoda L.M.Perry
- Verbena nivea Moldenke
- Verbena occulta Moldenke
- Verbena officinalisVerbena officinalisVerbena officinalis, the Common Vervain or Common Verbena, is a perennial herb native to Europe. It grows up to a metre/yard high, with an upright habitus...
– Common Vervain, Simpler's Joy, Holy Herb, "mosquito plant", "wild hyssop" - Verbena orcuttiana L.M.Perry
- Verbena ovata Cham.
- Verbena paraguariensis Moldenke
- Verbena paranensis Moldenke
- Verbena parvula Hayek
- Verbena paulensis Moldenke
- Verbena paulsenii Phil.
- Verbena pedicellata Moldenke
- Verbena perennis Wooton
- Verbena × perriana
- Verbena pinetorum Moldenke
- Verbena plicata Greene
- Verbena polycephala Turcz.
- Verbena porrigens Phil.
- Verbena pseudojuncea Gay
- Verbena ramboi Moldenke
- Verbena ramulosa Phil.
- Verbena recta Kunth
- Verbena rectiloba Moldenke
- Verbena regnelliana Moldenke
- Verbena reineckii Moldenke
- Verbena reitzii Moldenke
- Verbena ribifolia Walp.
- Verbena rigida Spreng.
- Verbena rigida var. obovata (Hayek) Moldenke
- Verbena rigida var. rigida
- Verbena riparia Raf. ex Small & A.Heller
- Verbena robusta Greene
- Verbena runyonii Moldenke
- Verbena russellii Moldenke
- Verbena × rydbergii
- Verbena scabra Vahl
- Verbena scabrella Sessé & Moc.
- Verbena sedula Moldenke
- Verbena simplex Lehm. – Narrow-leaved Vervain
- Verbena spartioides Turcz.
- Verbena speciosa
- Verbena sphaerocarpa L.M.Perry
- Verbena storeoclada Briq.
- Verbena stricta Vent. – Hoary Vervain
- Verbena strigosa Cham.
- Verbena subuligera Greene
- Verbena supina L.
- Verbena swiftiana Moldenke
- Verbena tecticaulis Tronc.
- Verbena tessmannii Moldenke
- Verbena teucroides
- Verbena thymoides Cham.
- Verbena tomophylla Briq.
- Verbena townsendii Svenson
- Verbena trachea Phil.
- Verbena trifida Kunth
- Verbena triphylla L.
- Verbena triternata Phil.
- Verbena urticifoliaVerbena urticifoliaVerbena urticifolia is a herbaceous plant in the vervain family . It belongs to the "true" vervains of genus Verbena.White Vervain has opposite, simple leaves on thin, rigid, green stems...
– White Vervain - Verbena valerianoides Kunth
- Verbena variabilis Moldenke
- Verbena villifolia Hayek
- Verbena weberbaueri Hayek
- Verbena xutha Lehm.
See also
- Arthur B. HowardArthur B. HowardArthur B. Howard of Belchertown, Massachusetts, was America's foremost strawberry breeder of his time. His Howard 17 variety is the ancestor of most American strawberries today. Howard was one of the few breeders before 1900 to use systematic methods. He wrote many horticultural articles for the...
- Other "verbenas"/"vervains" of the family VerbenaceaeVerbenaceaeVerbenaceae, commonly known as the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell.Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that...
:- Lemon VerbenaLemon verbenaAloysia citrodora is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family, Verbenaceae, that is native to Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. Common names include Lemon Verbena and Lemon Beebrush. It was brought to Europe by the Spanish in the 17th...
, Aloysia citrodora - Licorice Verbena, Phyla alba
- Mock verbenas, genus Glandularia
- Pineapple Verbena, Nashia inaguensis
- Shrub verbenas, genus Lantana
- Lemon Verbena
- Unrelated flowering plants called "verbenas"/"vervains":
- Sand-verbenas, genus Abronia
- Sweet Verbena-tree or -myrtle, Backhousia citriodora
- Unrelated plants whose scientific names refer to Verbena:
- CrownbeardCrownbeardCrownbeard is the common name of Verbesina, a genus of flowering plants, in the daisy family . They bear yellow flowers similar to small sunflowers. The name Verbesina refers to the similarity of the foliage to that of the verbena.Verbesina species are used as food plants by the larvae of some...
, the genus Verbesina - Cordia verbenacea
- Wild Clary, Salvia verbenaca
- Crownbeard