Blue Vervain
Verbena hastata
Found in fens, marshes, bogs, meadows, calcareous spring marshes, riverbanks, low fields. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 2–5 feet
- Spread
- 1–2.5 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 2 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 25 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- June to October
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 55 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.
Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
Open, grassy or flowery ground that is not wet, such as mountain meadows; wet meadows are separate.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
11CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Verbena
- Autographa precationisCommon Looper Moth
- Catabena lineolataFine-Lined Sallow
- Cenopis reticulatanaReticulated Fruitworm Moth
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
- Crambodes talidiformisVerbena Groundling, Verbena Moth
- Endothenia hebesanaVerbena Bud Moth
- Junonia coeniaCommon Buckeye
- Megalographa bilobaBilobed Looper Moth
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
Show all 11
- Xenotemna pallorana
39BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Verbena
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
2Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Verbena
- Calliopsis michenerella
- Calliopsis nebraskensis
8BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Verbena
- Acanthis flammeaCommon Redpoll
- Anthus rubescensAmerican Pipit
- Calcarius lapponicusLapland Longspur
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
- Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
- Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Flies 10
- Archytas analis
- Exoprosopa fasciata
- Exoprosopa fascipennis
- Geron rufipes
- Helicobia 4-setosa
- Physocephala texana
- Physocephala tibialis
- Scepsis fulvicollis
- Systoechus vulgaris
- Systropus macer
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Adult butterflies / moths 3
- Ancyloxypha numitor
- Pholisora catullus
- Pontia protodice
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 7
- Ammobia ichneumonea
- Bembix nubillipennis
- Priononyx atrata
- Sphex gracilis
- Sphex nigricans
- Sphex procera
- Vespula maculata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other insects 1
- Calocoris rapidus
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Beetles
Plant details
- Family
- Verbenaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–8b
- Flower color
- Blue or purple
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Blue or purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs)
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs)
- Height · “2–5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Minnesota Wildflowers, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Virginia DCR Piedmont, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Virginia DCR Piedmont, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Spread · “1–2.5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Swamp Vervain
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications