DAKOTA VERBENA
File Size: 81 KB
 
Glandularia bipinnatifida   (Nutt. ) Nutt.
[=Verbena bipinnatifida Nutt.]
Smoky Valley Ranch, Logan County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 6-18 inches
Family: Verbenaceae - Vervain Family
Flowering Period:   May, June, July
Also Called: Prairie verbena.
Stems: Prostrate, decumbent or ascending, several to many, stout, to 24 inches long, much-branched from bases, moderately to densely hairy.
Leaves: Variable, opposite, simple, stalked, 1-3-pinnately divided into linear or linear-oblong segments, .5 to 2.5 inches long, .5 to 2.5 inches wide, stiff-hairy; margins often rolling downward; tips blunt to slightly pointed.
Inflorescences: Spikes, thick, 1/2 to 8 inches long, umbrella-like, terminal.
Flowers: 5-parted; calyx lobes unequal, veins hairy; corollas 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide, lavender, pink, or bluish purple, outer surface hairy; lobes 5, spreading; tips notched; stamens 4, in 2 groups.
Fruits: 4 nutlets, cylindric, pitted, grayish black, each 1-seeded.
Habitat: Dry prairies, plains, pastures, disturbed areas, and roadsides, most abundant on rocky slopes.
Distribution: Throughout Kansas.
Uses: Native Americans sometimes used the leaves in treatments of snakebites.
Comments: Though hardy and drought resistant, Dakota verbena does not compete well with other plants.

Dakota verbena inflorescences
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Smoky Valley Ranch, Logan County, Kansas
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