Verbena officinalis is an European native. It thrives in dry, poor, shallow soil. Often it will grow by roadsides or on trampled ground. Grazing animals avoid it.

It has long been associated with the supernatural, possibly as it does have real medical properties. It has been used in folk medicine since antiquity to fight pain, treat some mental problems, respiratory tract infections and chest pains. It contains vervain, which is psychoactive.

Genetic material sourced on a dry meadow outside Ljubljana, Slovenia

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