Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl.
A frost tender, low, usually spreading shrub, often flushed purple, with fleshy, bluish leaves, to 8cm long, and tail-like inflorescences of light blue, tubular flowers. To 1.2m. [RHSD, Hortus].
Horticultural & Botanical History
Stachytarpheta jamaicensis was introduced to Britain in 1714. [JD]. Paxton’s Dictionary describes the flowers of Stachytarpheta indica as white, introduced from Ceylon in 1732. This plant is possibly Stachytarpheta urticaefolia. Stachytarpheta jamaicensis [BM t.1860/1816] and Stachytarpheta urticaefolia [BM t.1848/1815] are both figured in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. ‘This plant is altogether more robust and of lower growth than Stachytarpheta urticifolia, No. 1848, its leaves are more fleshy, more coarsely and bluntly sawed, and quite entire from a little below the middle, with their base gradually elongated into a footstalk. The stems and branches, we observe, vary with respect to hairiness; the pubescence in the plant from which our drawing was taken was hardly visible to the naked eye. […] This plant, though shrubby, seldom lives more than two or three years. Is propagated by cuttings. Being a native of the West-Indies, it requires to be kept in the the stove, during the winter at least. Communicated by Messrs. Loddiges and Sons. Flowers most part of the summer. [BM t.1860/1816].
History at Camden Park
Listed in the 1850 and 1857 catalogues [H.216/1850].
Notes
Published Feb 15, 2009 - 11:57 AM | Last updated Feb 15, 2010 - 11:42 AM
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Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl. | BM t.1860/1816 | BHL
| Family | Verbenaceae |
|---|---|
| Category | |
| Region of origin | Caribbean |
| Synonyms |
|
| Common Name | Common snakeweed, Blue snakeweed, Jamaica vervain |
| Name in the Camden Park Record | Stachytarpheta Indica |
| Confidence level | high |