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Hoary Vervain

Verbena stricta

Found in prairies, glades, barrens, pastures, and roadsides. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

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Not scored

Native status: sources disagree, under review. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 76%

Height
2–4 feet
Spread
1.5–2 feet
Light
Full sun
Soil moisture
Dry to average

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 September

Not yet recorded · Leaves

County records are not available.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Prairies and grasslands

Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020
Barrens grassland after a prescribed fire. Shown: Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020, NPS Photo / Rick Olson, September 2020. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

12CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV

Genus host records with ranges including WV · 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
  • Papaipema nepheleptenaTurtlehead Borer
  • Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
Show all 12
  • Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
  • Xenotemna pallorana
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
2Specialist beesPollen specialists

Pollen specialists · Verbena

  • Calliopsis michenerella
  • Calliopsis nebraskensis
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
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
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Verbenaceae
Hardiness
Zones 4a–8b
Flower color
Blue or purple

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope

Conservation status

West Virginia rankSNA
Global rankG5
WV statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources