Flowers. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, Murrumbidgee R bank E of Hay, NSW

Flowers. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, near Macquarie Marshes, NSW

Flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, near Macquarie Marshes, NSW

Plant. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, near Macquarie Marshes, NSW

Plant. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, Murrumbidgee River bank east of Hay, NSW

Common Name

Native Verbena

Family

Verbenaceae

Notes

Forb to 1m tall. Leaves opposite each other. Lower and mid-stem leaves 5-12cm long, 3-15mm wide, flat, deeply incised almost to the midrib, the lobes toothed. Upper leaves smaller, flat to linear, almost entire or sparsely toothed. Flowers deep blue, blue, or mauve, tubular, with 5 spreading lobes, in lax panicles at the tops of the stems, the flowers farther apart on the lower part of the inflorescence, closer together higher up. Poorly known Vic (as Verbena officinalis var. gaudichaudii).

Differs from Verbena africana and Verbena officinalis in that the inflorescence lacks glands, and thus is not sticky.

The description above is based on the description in Munir, A.A., (2002) A taxonomic revision of the genus Verbena L. (Verbenaceae) in Australia. Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens 20: 76-78, 89-93

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Verbena~gaudichaudii