Common Name: VERVAIN FAMILY
Habit: Annual to shrub [tree], generally hairy. Leaf: cauline, opposite, generally toothed; stipules 0. Inflorescence: raceme, spike, or head, generally elongated in fruit; bract generally 1 per flower. Flower: bisexual; calyx generally 4--5-toothed; corolla 4--5-lobed, radial to bilateral, salverform to 2-lipped; stamens 4--5 (if 4, generally in unequal pairs), epipetalous; ovary superior, 2- or 4-lobed, generally 2- chambered, style 1, often with 2 unequal lobes, only 1 stigmatic, lateral. Fruit: 2 or 4 nutlets, drupe-like, or capsule.
Genera In Family: +- 31 genera, +- 920 species: especially American tropics. Some cultivated (Lantana, Verbena, Vitex); some weedy worldwide (Lantana); some used for wood (Tectona, teak). Avicennia included in Acanthaceae.
eFlora Treatment Author: Dieter H. Wilken
Scientific Editor: Bruce G. Baldwin.

Habit: Perennial herb, generally mat-like. Stem: central generally stolon-like; branches decumbent to erect, glabrous or +- strigose. Leaf: opposite or clustered, strigose to appressed-hairy; hairs forked. Inflorescence: spike, +- spheric, becoming cylindric in fruit, dense; bracts ovate to wedge-shaped. Flower: calyx +- compressed, 2--4-toothed; corolla +- 2-lipped, tube generally > calyx; stamens 4; ovary 2-chambered, ovules 2, style lobes 2, stigma lateral. Fruit: nutlets 2.
Etymology: (Greek: clan or tribe, from clustered flowers)