Blue vervain

Verbena hastata

Also: American vervain, Swamp verbena, Simpler's joy

CoolingDryingRelaxing

For the driven, overworked mind that can't switch off.

A tall, stiff plant of wet meadows topped by a candelabra of narrow spikes, each ringed with tiny violet flowers that bloom upward a few at a time. Blue vervain cools hot, driven tension, shifts the body out of fight or flight, and stirs digestion with intense bitterness.

Energetics: Cold, drying, relaxing
Taste: Very bitter, acrid
Family: Verbenaceae (vervain family)
Parts used: Leaves and flowering tops

Medicinal uses 5

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Traditional useLab and mechanism studiesClinical studies

Anxiety & stressTLC
Cools agitation and overwhelm in people who push hard and struggle to let go.
Tension headacheTLC
Loosens the tight muscles behind tension headaches, often with betony or skullcap.
PMS & cycle irritabilityTLC
Eases the anxiety and tension headaches that build before a period.
FeverTLC
Lets the heat of a fever release by relaxing the body.
Indigestion & bloatingTLC
Its strong bitterness gets digestive juices and bile moving.

Preparations

Small tincture doses, a sipped bitter tea, and blends for overwork.

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Cautions

Its bitterness limits how much anyone takes; large doses can cause nausea.
As an herb that brings on a period, leave it out if your periods run heavy.

Pregnancy & breastfeeding

PregnancyAvoid

Blue vervain brings on menstruation, so it stays out of pregnancy.

BreastfeedingTea amounts only

Occasional tea is considered low risk while nursing; medicinal doses wait until after weaning.

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Folklore

Its European cousin was the Romans' herba sacra, used to sweep altars clean. Pliny wrote that it should be gathered at the rising of the Dog Star, when neither sun nor moon was in the sky, and that the Gauls used it to foretell the future. Hastata means spear-shaped, for the leaves. Simpler's joy, an old country name, refers to the simplers who gathered and sold herbs, and vervain sold well.

How to grow

A tall perennial for moist to wet soil in full sun, at home in rain gardens. It self-sows well and draws bees and butterflies. Cut the flowering tops when the first rings of flowers open.

In the wild

Wet meadows, ditches, marsh edges, and stream banks across much of North America.

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