Common name:
Mint vervain
Family:
Scientific name:
Verbena menthifolia
Main flower color:
Range:
Southerly areas in California, Arizona and New Mexico, plus a small part of central Texas
Height:
Up to 30 inches
Habitat:
Canyons, roadsides, streambanks
Leaves:
Ovate; deeply lobed or toothed, up to 2 inches long
Season:
April to June
Leaves of verbena menthifolia have a pair of lobes near the base, and smaller lobes, or large teeth, higher up. Leaves have a sparse covering of hairs, most noticeably along the margins. The base of the leaves taper to a flat stalk. Leaves have a depressed midvein, and smaller side veins. Plants typically produce one, two or three stems, quite thick, and growing generally upwards.
The inflorescence is long (up to ten inches) and narrow, the flowers well separated. Flowers are small; they have a five-toothed calyx, around 0.1 inch long and a pale, purple-pink corolla of comparable length, opening to five lobes, with bilateral symmetry. The bracts beneath the flowers are ovate to lanceolate, pointed at the apex, variable in length but generally a little shorter than the calyces.
The inflorescence is long (up to ten inches) and narrow, the flowers well separated. Flowers are small; they have a five-toothed calyx, around 0.1 inch long and a pale, purple-pink corolla of comparable length, opening to five lobes, with bilateral symmetry. The bracts beneath the flowers are ovate to lanceolate, pointed at the apex, variable in length but generally a little shorter than the calyces.
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