Verbena pulchella

South american mock vervain

Family: Verbenaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

South american mock vervain is a naturalized perennial herb found in southern California coastal areas, Santa Monica Mountains, and western Peninsular Ranges in dry, disturbed places and abandoned fields at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces white to purple flowers in dense spikes 3 to 8 centimeters long. Growing with multiple stems 15 to 60 centimeters tall that are decumbent to erect and glabrous or sparsely hairy, it forms spreading clumps. Its leaves are 1 to 3.5 centimeters long, approximately ovate and intricately 1 to 2-pinnately dissected with strigose hairs. The fruit is small, measuring 2 to 3 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Dry, disturbed places, abandoned fields (as waif)

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: SCo, s WTR (Santa Monica Mtns), w PR

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.