Japanese name: ハマクマツヅラ（浜熊葛） Scientific name:Verbena litoralis
[Overview]
A perennial 0.3–2 m tall, found on sunny riverbeds, wasteland and roadsides.
One to several stems are produced, often woody at the base and branching well in the upper part.
The stem is square in cross section and almost hairless.
Leaves are simple and opposite, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, about 10 cm long.
On the upper surface the veins are sunken, both sides are hairy, and the leaf margins are toothed.
There is a distinct petiole, and the base does not clasp the stem.
Many spikes 3 cm long are produced at the stem tips.
In the lower part of the inflorescence, the flowers are often sparse.
The flowers are pale purple, 3 mm across, and the corolla is 5-lobed.
[History]
After World War II, naturalization was confirmed in Okinawa, and it is now naturalized from the Kanto region westward.
