PROSTRATE VERVAIN, Verbena
bracteata Lag. and Rodr. 1, entire plant; 2, flowering
stem; 3, single flower; 4, seed pod or fruit; 5, single
seed. Annual, reproducing by seed. Stems mostly prostrate,
a few inches to more than a foot long, hairy, freely branching at base.
Leaves numerous, small, rough, opposite, lobed and toothed, hairy.
Flowers blue or purplish, small, in dense spikes, almost hidden
by the conspicuous bracts. Seeds result from pod splitting into
4 segments, each with 2 flattened sides and 1 rounded side, oblong, about
1/8 inch (3 mm) long, dark brown. Found in barnyards, lawns, pastures,
meadows, and waste places. Rarely found in cultivated fields.