July 11, 2006
Blue Vervain, Verbena hastata
Described in Newcomb's Wildflower Guide as a plant of moist thickets, shores and meadows, this specimen was found growing in the bio-swale in front of the Cambridge Water Treatment Facility. Like its cousins White, Narrow-leaved, and Hoary Vervain (V. utricifolia, V. simplex, and V. stricta) it is a native wildflower of New England.