Verbena officinalis
Encyclopedia
Verbena officinalis, the Common Vervain or Common Verbena, is a perennial herb
native to Europe
. It grows up to a metre/yard high, with an upright habitus
. The lobed leaves are toothed, the delicate spikes
hold mauve
flowers.
This plant prefers limey soils; it is occasionally grown as an ornamental plant
but perhaps more often for the powerful properties some herbalists
ascribe to it. Propagation is by root cuttings or seed. It is widely naturalised
outside its native range, for example in North America
.
. And of course, being the only member of its genus in much of its range, it is also simply known as "the vervain" locally.
The common names of V. officinalis in many Central and Eastern Europes languages often associate it with iron
, for example:
Common Vervain was scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus his 1753 Species Plantarum
. The scientific name references the Ancient Roman
term verbena, used for any sacrificial herb considered very powerful (as described e.g. by Pliny the Elder
). Officinalis
, meanwhile, is Latin
for "used in medicine or herbalism
".
, it is derived from the lineage nowadays occurring widely across North America
. It might be closest to a group including such species as the White Vervain (V. urticifolia), V. lasiostachys
or V. menthifolia
, and perhaps the Swamp Verbena (V. hastata). As these, it is diploid with 14 chromosome
s altogether.
Numerous local varieties have been described, some of them as distinct species or subspecies
. The following are often accepted today:
The Texas Vervain (V. halei) is sometimes included in V. officinalis as a subspecies or variety. But despite the outward similarity, biogeography
alone strongly suggests there is really no justification to include this North American native here, and DNA sequence
data agrees. Instead, V. halei seems to be closely related to V. macdougalii, perhaps with some interbreeding with the V. menthifolia lineage which might explain its Common Vervain-like traits.
; it has long been associated with divine
and other supernatural
forces, and it has an equally long-standing use as a medicinal plant.
Medical use of Common Vervain is usually as a herbal tea; Nicholas Culpeper
's 1652 The English Physitian discusses folk uses. Among others effects, it may act as a galactagogue
and possibly sex steroid
analogue and abortifacient
; it is reputed to help against nervousness
and insomnia
. "Vervain", presumably this species, is one of the original 38 Bach flower remedies
, prescribed against "over-enthusiasm". In the Modern Era, it is sometimes considered a powerful "ally" of poets and writers, as its relaxing effects can relieve writer's block
. As noted above, it cannot be considered safe to use during pregnancy
as it might cause miscarriage
s.
While Common Vervain is not native to North America
, it has been introduced there and the Pawnee have adopted it as an entheogen
enhancer and in oneiromancy
, and is often referred to as the North American version of Calea zacatechichi
.
In western Eurasia
, the term "verbena" or "vervain" usually refers to this, the most widespread and common member of the mostly American
genus
occurring there. It was called "tears of Isis
" in Ancient Egypt
, and later on "Juno
's tears". In Ancient Greece
, it was dedicated to Eos Erigineia. In the early Christian
era, folk legend stated that Common Vervain was used to staunch Jesus
' wounds after his removal from the cross
; hence names like "Holy Herb" or (e.g. in Wales
) "Devil's bane".
Due to the association with the Passion of Christ, it came to be used in ointments to drive out and repel "demon
ic" illness. Vervain flowers are engraved on cimaruta
, Italian
anti-stregheria
charm
s. In the 1870 The History and Practice of Magic by "Paul Christian" (Jean Baptiste Pitois
) it is employed in the preparation of a mandragora charm. In the role-playing game
Mage: The Ascension
, the magickal group Verbena, masters of the sphere of Life, derive their name from the sacrificial herbs of Antiquity, and it is implied that this specifically means the Common Vervain in this case.
Hazlitt's Faiths and Folklore (1905) quotes Aubrey's Miscellanies (1721), to wit:
, author L. J. Smith
uses vervain to protect humans from vampires, in an extension of vervain's fabled magic-suppression powers against witches. In The Struggle, Volume II, the vampire Stefan instructs the human Elena that vervain can "protect you against bewitchment, and it can keep your mind clear if someone is using Powers against you." He tells her how it is prepared and used, "Once I've extracted the oil from the seeds, you can rub it into your skin, or add it to a bath. And you can make the dried leaves into a sachet and carry it with you, or put it under your pillow at night", but gives her an unprepared sprig for protection in the meantime.
A Royal Navy
Arabis class sloop
of the World War I
era was named HMS Verbena, and in World War II
a Group 1 Flower class corvette
bore the same name; a Group 2 vessel of the latter class was called HMS Vervain
. The only Verbena widely found in England in a native state is Common Vervain, though it is just as possible that the names reference the popular ornamental
verbenas , such as the Garden Vervain.
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
native to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. It grows up to a metre/yard high, with an upright habitus
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
. The lobed leaves are toothed, the delicate spikes
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
hold mauve
Mauve
Mauve is a pale lavender-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples. The color mauve is named after the mallow flower....
flowers.
This plant prefers limey soils; it is occasionally grown as an ornamental plant
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
but perhaps more often for the powerful properties some herbalists
Herbalism
Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...
ascribe to it. Propagation is by root cuttings or seed. It is widely naturalised
Naturalisation (biology)
In biology, naturalisation is any process by which a non-native organism spreads into the wild and its reproduction is sufficient to maintain its population. Such populations are said to be naturalised....
outside its native range, for example in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Common names and taxonomy
It is also known as Simpler's Joy or Holy Herb, or more ambiguously as "mosquito plant" or "wild hyssop". The common name "Blue Vervain" is also sometimes used, but properly refers to V. hastataVerbena hastata
Verbena hastata is a flowering plant in the vervain family, Verbenaceae. It is a herb with opposite, simple leaves which have double-serate margins, borne on stiffly erect, branching square stems. The flowers appear in summer and are purple...
. And of course, being the only member of its genus in much of its range, it is also simply known as "the vervain" locally.
The common names of V. officinalis in many Central and Eastern Europes languages often associate it with iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, for example:
- Echtes Eisenkraut (GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: "true ironherb") - IJzerhard (DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: "iron-hard") - Læge-Jernurt (DanishDanish languageDanish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
: "medical ironwort") - Železník lekársky (SlovakSlovak languageSlovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
: ("medical ironherb") - Rohtorautayrtti (FinnishFinnish languageFinnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
: "medical ironherb")
Common Vervain was scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus his 1753 Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum was first published in 1753, as a two-volume work by Carl Linnaeus. Its prime importance is perhaps that it is the primary starting point of plant nomenclature as it exists today. This means that the first names to be considered validly published in botany are those that appear...
. The scientific name references the Ancient Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
term verbena, used for any sacrificial herb considered very powerful (as described e.g. by Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
). Officinalis
Officinalis
Officinalis is a Medieval Latin epithet denoting substances or organisms – mainly plants – with uses in medicine and herbalism. It commonly occurs as a species name of such organisms.-Etymology:...
, meanwhile, is Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for "used in medicine or herbalism
Herbalism
Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...
".
Systematics
One of the few species of Verbena native to regions outside the AmericasAmericas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, it is derived from the lineage nowadays occurring widely across North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. It might be closest to a group including such species as the White Vervain (V. urticifolia), V. lasiostachys
Verbena lasiostachys
Verbena lasiostachys is a species of verbena known by the common name western vervain. It is native to western North America from Oregon to Baja California, where it is widespread and occurs in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas, where it grows as a common weed. This perennial herb...
or V. menthifolia
Verbena menthifolia
Verbena menthifolia is a species of verbena known by the common name mint vervain. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it occurs in many types of open, dry habitat such as desert scrub. This perennial herb produces one or more rough-haired, erect stems up to...
, and perhaps the Swamp Verbena (V. hastata). As these, it is diploid with 14 chromosome
Chromosome
A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein found in cells. It is a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions.Chromosomes...
s altogether.
Numerous local varieties have been described, some of them as distinct species or subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
. The following are often accepted today:
- Verbena officinalis var. africana (R. Fern. & Verdc.) Munir (= V. officinalis ssp. africana R.Fern. & Verdc.)
- Verbena officinalis var. eremicola Munir
- Verbena officinalis var. gaudichaudii Briq.
- Verbena officinalis var. macrostachya (F. Muell.) Benth. (= V. macrostachya)
- Verbena officinalis var. monticola Munir
- Verbena officinalis var. officinalis L. (= V. domingensis)
The Texas Vervain (V. halei) is sometimes included in V. officinalis as a subspecies or variety. But despite the outward similarity, biogeography
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...
alone strongly suggests there is really no justification to include this North American native here, and DNA sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
data agrees. Instead, V. halei seems to be closely related to V. macdougalii, perhaps with some interbreeding with the V. menthifolia lineage which might explain its Common Vervain-like traits.
Use by humans
Common Vervain is held in high esteem since the Classical AntiquityClassical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
; it has long been associated with divine
Divinity
Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...
and other supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
forces, and it has an equally long-standing use as a medicinal plant.
Medical use of Common Vervain is usually as a herbal tea; Nicholas Culpeper
Nicholas Culpeper
Nicholas Culpeper was an English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer. His published books include The English Physician and the Complete Herbal , which contain a rich store of pharmaceutical and herbal knowledge, and Astrological Judgement of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick ,...
's 1652 The English Physitian discusses folk uses. Among others effects, it may act as a galactagogue
Galactagogue
A galactagogue is a substance that promotes lactation in humans and other animals. It may be synthetic, plant-derived, or endogenous.-Herbal:The most commonly cited galactagogues are herbal...
and possibly sex steroid
Sex steroid
Sex steroids, also known as gonadal steroids, are steroid hormones that interact with vertebrate androgen or estrogen receptors. Their effects are mediated by slow genomic mechanisms through nuclear receptors as well as by fast nongenomic mechanisms through membrane-associated receptors and...
analogue and abortifacient
Abortifacient
An abortifacient is a substance that induces abortion. Abortifacients for animals that have mated undesirably are known as mismating shots....
; it is reputed to help against nervousness
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
and insomnia
Insomnia
Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
. "Vervain", presumably this species, is one of the original 38 Bach flower remedies
Bach flower remedies
Bach flower remedies are dilutions of flower material developed by Edward Bach, an English bacteriologist, pathologist and homeopath, in the 1930s. Bach believed that dew found on flower petals retain healing properties of that plant...
, prescribed against "over-enthusiasm". In the Modern Era, it is sometimes considered a powerful "ally" of poets and writers, as its relaxing effects can relieve writer's block
Writer's block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...
. As noted above, it cannot be considered safe to use during pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
as it might cause miscarriage
Miscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
s.
While Common Vervain is not native to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, it has been introduced there and the Pawnee have adopted it as an entheogen
Entheogen
An entheogen , in the strict sense, is a psychoactive substance used in a religious, shamanic, or spiritual context. Historically, entheogens were mostly derived from plant sources and have been used in a variety of traditional religious contexts...
enhancer and in oneiromancy
Oneiromancy
Oneiromancy is a form of divination based upon dreams; it is a system of dream interpretation that uses dreams to predict the future.-Ancient Egyptian:...
, and is often referred to as the North American version of Calea zacatechichi
Calea zacatechichi
Calea zacatechichi, also known as Dream Herb, Leaf of God, and Bitter Grass, is a plant used by the indigenous Chontal of the Mexican state of Oaxaca for oneiromancy The plant naturally occurs from southern Mexico to northern Costa Rica...
.
In western Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
, the term "verbena" or "vervain" usually refers to this, the most widespread and common member of the mostly American
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
occurring there. It was called "tears of Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
" in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, and later on "Juno
Juno (mythology)
Juno is an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister of the chief god Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. Juno also looked after the women of Rome. Her Greek equivalent is Hera...
's tears". In Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, it was dedicated to Eos Erigineia. In the early Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
era, folk legend stated that Common Vervain was used to staunch Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
' wounds after his removal from the cross
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
; hence names like "Holy Herb" or (e.g. in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
) "Devil's bane".
Due to the association with the Passion of Christ, it came to be used in ointments to drive out and repel "demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
ic" illness. Vervain flowers are engraved on cimaruta
Cimaruta
Cimaruta : Also called Witch’s Charm, and Cima di Ruta. An old protective charm dating back to the 19th century, depicting a variety of symbols or charms in protection against the Evil Eye....
, Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
anti-stregheria
Stregheria
Stregheria is a form of ethnic Italian form of Wicca originating in the United States, popularized by Raven Grimassi since the 1980s. Stregheria is sometimes referred to as La Vecchia Religione The word stregheria is an archaic Italian word for "witchcraft", the modern Italian word being...
charm
Amulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
s. In the 1870 The History and Practice of Magic by "Paul Christian" (Jean Baptiste Pitois
Jean Baptiste Pitois
Jean Baptiste Pitois, also known as Jean Baptiste or Paul Christian was a French author, known for The History and Practice of Magic, first published in France in 1870.-Life:...
) it is employed in the preparation of a mandragora charm. In the role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
Mage: The Ascension
Mage: The Ascension
Mage: The Ascension is a role-playing game based in the World of Darkness, and was published by White Wolf Game Studio. The characters portrayed in the game are referred to as mages, and are capable of feats of magic...
, the magickal group Verbena, masters of the sphere of Life, derive their name from the sacrificial herbs of Antiquity, and it is implied that this specifically means the Common Vervain in this case.
Hazlitt's Faiths and Folklore (1905) quotes Aubrey's Miscellanies (1721), to wit:
"Vervain and Dill / Hinder witches from their will."In the series of young adult novels The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire horror series of novels written by L. J. Smith. The story centers around Elena Gilbert, a high school girl torn between two vampire brothers. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991, but pressure from readers led Smith to write a fourth...
, author L. J. Smith
L. J. Smith (author)
Lisa Jane Smith, known professionally as L.J. Smith, is an American author of young-adult literature. Her books, which combine elements of the genres of supernatural, horror, science fiction/fantasy, and romance, are populated with young and apparently young human and supernatural characters...
uses vervain to protect humans from vampires, in an extension of vervain's fabled magic-suppression powers against witches. In The Struggle, Volume II, the vampire Stefan instructs the human Elena that vervain can "protect you against bewitchment, and it can keep your mind clear if someone is using Powers against you." He tells her how it is prepared and used, "Once I've extracted the oil from the seeds, you can rub it into your skin, or add it to a bath. And you can make the dried leaves into a sachet and carry it with you, or put it under your pillow at night", but gives her an unprepared sprig for protection in the meantime.
A Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
Arabis class sloop
Arabis class sloop
The Arabis class was the third class of minesweeping sloops to be built under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy in World War I as part of the larger "Flower Class", which were also referred to as the "Cabbage Class", or "Herbaceous Borders"...
of the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
era was named HMS Verbena, and in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
a Group 1 Flower class corvette
Flower class corvette
The Flower-class corvette was a class of 267 corvettes used during World War II, specifically with the Allied navies as anti-submarine convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic...
bore the same name; a Group 2 vessel of the latter class was called HMS Vervain
HMS Vervain (K190)
HMS Vervain was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War.On 28 February 1943 the liberty ship SS Wade Hampton was torpedoed by U-405 while sailing in a convoy from New York to Murmansk, Russia...
. The only Verbena widely found in England in a native state is Common Vervain, though it is just as possible that the names reference the popular ornamental
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
verbenas , such as the Garden Vervain.