Plants of
South Australia
Verbena supina var. supina (∗)
Verbenaceae
Trailing Verbena
Display all 16 images
Distribution by Herbarium region
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta

Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 2

Etymology

Verbena applied by German botanist, Otto Brunfels, in 1530, to Verbena officinalis, which is from the Italian and Spanish name of this plant, verbena. Supina from the Latin 'supinus' meaning bent backwards, prostrate; referring to the prostrate stems.

Distribution and status

An introduced species native to the Mediterranean region and recorded from the eastern part of South Australia, growing in waste places and on damp or sandy grounds. Also found in New South Wales and Victoria. Introduced. Common in South Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Lake Eyre, Nullarbor, Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Alinytjara Wilurara, Eyre Peninsula, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Prostrate or procumbent herb, usually densely hairy throughout, much-branched from base, branches laterally flattened to quadrangular. Leaves petiolate, triangular or ovate-cuneate in outline, pinnatifid or bipinnatifid to bipinnatisect, to 4 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, with lobes bluntly toothed, hairy on both surfaces. Inflorescence terminal on slender spikes with lilac flowers. This variety differ from the other variety found in South Australia by having its stems prostrate or procumbent and not purplish (erect or suberect from the beginning and purplish in V. supina var. erecta) and densely hairy throughout (almost glabrous and shiny or very sparsely hairy in V. supina var. erecta). Flowering between November and March. Fruits are brown hairy capsules on long spike along the terminal of stems.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between January and May. Collect capsules that are turning brown either by running your hands along the spike and collecting mature capsules that fall off easily or by breaking off the whole spike. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the capsules gently with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place.