Flora-Fauna

Verbena officinalis L.

First published in Species Plantarum: 20 (1753)
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, Pl. XLV nº 2; 1983)

• Life-form & habit: Erect, slender perennial herb, 20–100 cm tall; stems quadrangular, branched above, slightly rough with short appressed hairs.

• Leaves: Oblong, coarsely dentate or pinnatipartite, narrowed into a short petiole; upper surface green, lower surface paler, both slightly rough to the touch.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Long, filiform, and loose spikes; flowers very small (2–3 mm), subsessile and erect; bracts oblong, acuminate, shorter than the calyx. Calyx tubular, covered with appressed bristles, divided into five short, acute teeth; corolla pale violet, with a slender exserted tube gradually widening into a spreading limb.

• Fruit: Composed of four nutlets, 2–3 mm, enclosed within the persistent calyx.

• Phenology: Flowers almost throughout the year.

• Habitat & elevation: Roadsides, disturbed grounds, and waste places; from coastal plains to mid-mountain zones.

• Lebanese distribution: Recorded by Mouterde in Saïda, Beirut, Nahr el-Kelb, Tripoli, Jamhour, Hadeth (Cedars), Ferzol, Taʿnaïl, Chtaura, Ksara, Zaïr, Damascus, Hammé, Soueida, and Qatma.

• Native range: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Assam, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Burundi, Central European Russia, China (North-Central, South-Central, Southeast), Corse, Cyprus, Czechia–Slovakia, Denmark, DR Congo, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, East Himalaya, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Hainan, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Java, Kenya, Kirgizstan, Korea, Kriti, Krym, KwaZulu-Natal, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, Netherlands, New South Wales, North Caucasus, Northern Europe, NW. Balkan Peninsula, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Sardegna, Sicilia, Somalia, South Europe, Spain, Sudan–South Sudan, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tasmania, Thailand, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Victoria, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Western Australia, Western Sahara, Xinjiang, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

• Introduced into: Widely naturalised in temperate and subtropical regions, including North and South America, Australia, and numerous oceanic islands (POWO).

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: A cosmopolitan weed easily recognised by its long slender spikes and minute pale-violet flowers; in Lebanon often occurring with Verbena supina L., from which it differs by its erect habit, pinnatipartite leaves, and much looser inflorescences