Blue Vervain

Species Name: verbena hastata L.

Other Names by Which Blue Vervain is known: Verbain, false verbain, wild hyssop, simpler's-joy, ironweed. American blue vervain, Blue Vervain, Herb of Grace, Herbe Sacrée, Herba veneris, Swamp Verbena, and Wild Vervain.

What is Blue Vervain? Blue Vervain is a rather rough, finely haired herb that has an erect, straight, four-sided stem, four to seven feet high, usually branched above, with broadly lance-shaped sharply toothed leaves.

The small, usually blue, flowers are densely clustered in numerous slender spikes two to six inches long. 

Vervain is found in moist fields, meadows, and waste places from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and Florida, Nebraska, and Arizona.

Home Remedies using Blue Vervain:

Benefits of Blue Vervain:

Blue Vervain is edible and medicinal. Vervain had many uses in Native American culture as food and medicine. The seeds are edible when roasted and are ground into a powder and used as a picole (an Indian flour). 

The leaves and roots of Blue Vervain are a valuable alternative medicine.

Blue Vervain can possible cause miscarriage, prevent diarrhea, as an analgesics, to kill parasitic worms, prevent the recurrence of diseases such as malaria, is an astringent to stop bleeding and discharge of fluids, causes excess sweat, causes vomiting, expectorant, sedative, tonic, vermifuge, and helps healing of wounds.

It is useful in intermittent fevers, and ulcers. As a medicinal poultice, blue vervain is good for headache and rheumatism relief. An infusion of the plant increases lactation, and is used for female obstructions, after pains, and can be taken as a female tonic.

The infusion is used to help pass kidney stones and for infections of the bladder or taken for colds and coughs. 

It is also useful for insomnia and other nervous conditions. Recent medical research has detected the presents of adenosine, aucubin, beta-carotene, caffeic-acid, citral, hastatoside, lupeol, ursolic-acid, verbenalin, verbenin, and other chemical constituents in this plant which prove these uses to be valid, but much more research needs to be done on this herb and its constituents. It may prove to be useful in treating many cancers and other diseases.

Uses of Blue Vervain:

Blue Vervain flowers bloom from June to September. Gather entire plant just before flowers open, dry for later herb use. Gather after flowers fade and dry to loosen the seeds for roasting. 

As a medicinal tea, pour a pint of boiling water over one tablespoon dried blue vervain steep ten minutes. Take one tablespoon up to six times a day and take two ounces, warm, before bedtime.

Side Effects of Blue Vervain:

There are no known side effects or drug interactions associated with Blue Vervain, Pregnant and Nursing women should not take this.