Verbenaceae

Verbenaceae J.St.-Hil., Expos. Fam. Nat. 1: 245. 1805. 'Verbena Family'

Characteristic Features:

Trees, shrubs, lianas or herbs with 4-angled stem and often aromatic
Leaves simple, opposite, exstipulate and often serrate
Flowers tetra or pentamerous, usually bilabiate
Gynoecium bicarpellary, syncarpous, ovary superior, having terminal style and conspicuously swollen and glandular stigmatic area
Fruit a schizocarp of 1-seeded mericarps or drupe of pyrenes

Diversity:

World- 34 genera 1,035 species (The Plant List 2013); 32 genera 1,000 species (Christenhusz & Byng 2016); 32 genera, 1000 species (Mabberely 2017); 33 genera, 957 species (Roskov et al. 2021)
India - 23 genera 140 species (Karthikeyan 2000; different circumscription); 23 genera, 153 species (BSI 2021; different circumscription)
Indian Himalaya- 21 genera, 74 species (Singh et al. 2019) [different circumscription]
Uttarakhand -15 genera 35 species (Uniyal et al. 2007) [different circumscription]

General Characters:

Verbenaceae in Watson & Dallwitz (1992 onwards)
Verbenaceae in Stevens (2001 onwards)
Verbenaceae in POWO 2021 (Plants of the World Online)
Verbenaceae in Wikipedia

Systematic Position of the Family in Different Systems of Classifications:

Systematic position in 2-Superkingdom, 7-Kingdom classification of Ruggiero et al. (2015)

Super Kingdom- Eukaryota, Kingdom- Plantae, Subkingdom- Viridiplantae, Infrakingdom- Streptophyta, Superphylum- Embryophyta, Phylum- Tracheophyta, Subphylum- Spermatophytina, Superclass- Angiospermae, Class- Magnoliopsida, Superorder-Asteranae, Order-Lamiales

Bentham & Hooker (1862-83)

Class : Dicotyledons
Subclass : Gamopetalae
Series : Bicarpellatae
Orders : Lamiales

Engler & Prantl (1887-1915)

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Embryophyta Siphonogama
Subdivision : Angiospermae
Class : Dicotyledoneae
Subclass : Archichlamydeae
Order : Parietales

Hutchinson (1973)

Phylum : Angiospermae
Subphylum : Dicotyledones
Division : Lignosae
Order : Verbenales

Cronquist (1988)

Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Asteridae
Order : Lamiales

Thorne & Reveal (2007)

Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Lamiidae
Super Order: Lamianae
Order : Lamiales

Takhtajan (2009)

Phylum : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Lamiidae
Super Order : Lamianae
Order : Lamiales

Reveal (2012)

Class : Equisetopsida
Subclass : Magnoliidae
Super Order: Lamianae
Order : Lamiales
Suborder : Lamiineae

APG-IV (2016)

Clade : Angiosperms
Clade : Eudicots
Clade : Core Eudicots
Clade : Superasterids
Clade : Asterids
Clade : Lamiids
Order : Lamiales

Shipunov (2020)

Class : Angiospermae
Subclass : Asteridae
Super Order: Asteranae
Order : Lamiales
Suborder : Lamiineae

(Merged with Lamiaceae)

Genera & Species in Pantnagar

To see larger images please click on the names

~Wild Flora~

Lantana camara L.

Phyla nodiflora (L.) Greene

Verbena bipinnatifida Nutt.

Verbena officinalis L.

Cultivated Flora

Duranta erecta L.

Vernacular name: Duranta, Sky Flower, Pigeon Berry

Nativity: U.S.A. to Tropical America (POWO, 2019)

Common Characteristics: Evergreen shrubs Branches drooping, with pair of spines, generally axillary spine. Leaves simple, alternate, elliptic to ovate, entire. Flowers in elongated racemes. Fruit rounded, orange.

Flowering period: Throughout the year

Propagation Methods: Propagated by stem cuttings and from seed (Dave’s Garden)

Photographed @ Yamunotri Bhawan

Verbena hybrida Groenl. & Rumpler

Vernacular name: Garden verbena

Nativity: Artificial hybrid (POWO, 2019)

Common Characteristics: Annual erect herb. Leaves simple, opposite, toothed margin, rough texture. Infloresence terminal cyme, dome shaped.

Flowering period: December to March

Propagation Methods: Propagated through herbaceous stem cutting and from seed (Dave’s Garden)

Photographed @ MFC