Verbena bonariensis Argentinian Vervain

A tall perennial with opposite pairs of sessile, sharply-toothed leaves and terminal clusters of small, 5-petalled, slightly zygomorphic, blue-purple flowers. It is a native of South America which has become a popular garden plant in recent years. It produces significant amounts of seed which is dispersed very effectively in late autumn and which germinates freely in the following year. It has also been introduced to Britain as a wool alien. It was first reprted in the wild in Britain in 1949. It naturalises irself very effectively in bare ground and waste places and it will probably expand its range as a neophyte in West Galmorgan and become more common in future.

Neophyte