Verbena litoralis

Verbena litoralis
growing as a weed on Midway Atoll
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Verbenaceae
Genus: Verbena
Species:
V. litoralis
Binomial name
Verbena litoralis

Verbena 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 in some areas a noxious weed. It is naturalized in the contiguous United States, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Italy, Spain, South Africa, Mauritius, the Galápagos Islands, Australia, Easter Island, French Polynesia, Japan, New Zealand, and other places.[1][2] It grows in many types of habitat, including disturbed and cultivated areas.

This perennial herb produces one or more hairless or slightly bristly erect stems growing 40 centimeters to well over one meter tall. The rough-haired leaves are somewhat lance-shaped and have serrated edges, the blades measuring up to 10 centimeters in length. The inflorescence is made up of one to eleven erect spikes of flowers which are dense at the tip and more open on the lower part. Each small tubular flower has a purple corolla about half a centimeter wide.

References

  1. ^ "Verbena litoralis". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  2. ^ Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk
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