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