Species: Verbena urticifolia var. urticifolia L.

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Verbena urticifolia var. urticifolia L.

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TAXONOMY

Family:

Verbenaceae

Genus:

Verbena

Species Synonyms:

none

Common Names:

white vervain
nettle-veined vervain

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

southeastern Saskatchewan, Ontario – New Brunswick

Saskatchewan:

southeastern Saskatchewan; Antler River Valley

Ecoregion:

Aspen Parkland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

low grassy or shrubby, riverbank slopes

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Endangered

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5 S1

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

White vervain is endangered because it is extremely rare and restricted to a small region in southeastern Saskatchewan. This species faces threats relating to habitat loss and human development.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Height:

50 – 250 cm

Stems:

perennial, solitary, erect, simple to branched, stiff-hairy to becoming hairless

Leaves:

opposite, stalk winged, 8 – 16 cm long, 2.5 – 7 cm wide, oval, base rounded, tip long or short tapered, margin saw-toothed or doubly saw-toothed

Inflorescence:

spikes solitary to few, lax, flowers not overlapping; bractlets 0.5 – 1.5 mm long, oval

Flowers:

sepals 1.5 – 2.5 mm long, hairy; petals white; stamens 5, fused to petals; carpels 2, 4-lobed

Fruits:

nutlets 1.5 – 2 mm long, commonly netted above and smooth or grooved below

VERBENA KEY FOR SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN

1 Leaves 3-lobed or pinnately lobed with saw-toothed margins; stems low, usually creeping or lying on the ground; bractlets subtending flowers as long as sepals	V. bracteata
1 Leaves toothed or shallowly incised; stems erect; bractlets subtending flowers shorter than sepals	2

2 Spikes numerous in branched clusters; leaves distinctly stalked; flowers and fruits overlapping in dense spikes; flowers blue; leaf stalks not winged	V. hastata var. hastata
2 Spikes solitary to few; leaves subsessile; flowers and fruits remote in loose spikes; flowers white; leaf stalks winged	V. urticifolia var. urticifolia