Doubtless this was the verbena, the herba
sacra employed in ancient Roman sacrifices, according to Pliny.
In his day the bridal wreath was of verbena, gathered by the
bride herself.
NARROW-LEAVED VERVAIN (V. angustifolia), like the blue vervain,
has a densely crowded spike of tiny purple or blue flowers that
quickly give place to seeds, but usually there is only one spike
at the end of a branch. The leaves are narrow, lance-shaped,
acute, saw-edged, rough. From Massachusetts and Florida westward
to Minnesota and Arkansas one finds the plant blooming in dry
fields from June to August, after the parsimonious manner of the
vervain tribe.
It is curious that the vervain, or verbena, employed by brides
for centuries as the emblem of chastity, should be one of the
notorious botanical examples of a willful hybrid. Generally, the
individuals of distinct species do not interbreed; but verbenas
are often difficult to name correctly in every case because of
their susceptibility to each other's pollen - the reason why the
garden verbena may so easily be made to blossom forth into
whatever hue the gardener wills.
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