Blue vervain

Verbena hastata

Verbenaceae

A candelabra of purple spikes in wet ground — a bitter American nervine of the old Eclectic physicians.

American wetland vervain. European V. officinalis is a cousin with a similar nervine record. Not lemon verbena.

Parts used: Aerial parts in flower
Traditional notes: Nervous tension folklore · After a grinding week · Bitter digestive
Grow · USDA 6b: Perennial, USDA 3–8, wet Seed needs cold, or a nursery plant. In work: Jul · Aug · Sep
Harvest: Flowering spikes as they open, dry.

A rain garden, not a raised bed of grit.
Leave some spikes for the bees.

Safety

Pregnancy in medicinal amounts

Lore

Vervain was a Roman altar herb — herba sacra — and then a Druid rumor the Victorians could not leave alone. The American species inherited the name and the nerves. Eclectic physicians of the 19th century used it for ‘nervousness with a tight neck,’ which is still the picture.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.