Verbena litoralis Kunth (1817: 276)

Cardoso, Pedro Henrique, Valério, Vanessa Imaculada Dos Reis, Neto, Luiz Menini & Salimena, Fátima Regina Gonçalves, 2021, Verbenaceae in Espírito Santo, Brazil: richness, patterns of geographic distribution and conservation, Phytotaxa 484 (1), pp. 1-43 : 34

11.1. Verbena litoralis Kunth (1817: 276) . (Figs. 3B, 7H)

Herbs 0.4‒1.5 m high, branches tetragonal, glabrescent. Leaves opposite, blade 3.3‒4.3 × 1.1‒1.3 cm, chartaceous, oval-elliptical to oblong, apex acute to obtuse, base cuneate, margin entire up to the third middle, dentate-serrate toward the apex, ciliate, strigose on both surfaces, trichomes concentrated along the veins. Inflorescences 2.8‒3.4 cm long, peduncle of the main spikes 2.3‒3.7 cm long, peduncle of the lateral spikes 4.5‒5.1 cm long, glabrous to puberulous; bracts 2‒3 mm long, oval-lanceolate, abaxial surface glabrescent, margin ciliate; calyx 3‒3.1 mm long, externally strigose; corolla 3.2‒4 mm long, pink or lilac. Fruit ca. 1.5 mm long, surrounded by the persistent calyx.

Distribution and habitat:— Verbena litoralis is distributed throughout Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, and Mexico (O’Leary et al. 2007). It is considered a ruderal species ( Lorenzi 1991) and is found in Brazil throughout the states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul (O’Leary 2020), and Distrito Federal ( Salimena et al. 2015). In Espírito Santo, this species occurs in disturbed areas of dense rainforest. It was found in a SPA of this state: Parque Estadual do Forno Grande.

Phenology:— Collected with flowers and fruits in April, July, September, and December.

Preliminary conservation assessment: —This is a common species (ruderal) with a wide distribution ( Lorenzi 1991, O’Leary et al. 2007), being recorded inside PAs. Considered “Least Concern” (LC) ( IUCN 2019).

Selected material:— BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Castelo, Parque Estadual do Forno Grande , 10 July 2004, fl. and fr., L . Kollman & R . L . Kollman 6879 ( CESJ, MBML); Santa Maria de Jetibá , 6 December 2008, fl. and fr., T . S . Lorencini et al. 117 ( CESJ, VIES); Venda Nova de Imigrante , 28 September 2016, fl. and fr., M . L . Guedes et al. 25018 ( ALCB) .

Notes:— Verbena litoralis is a herbaceous species presenting glabrescent branches; membranaceous leaves; strigose calyx, and corolla slightly exceeding the calyx. It can be differentiated from V. rigida by the branches glabrescent, bracts shorter than the calyx, and corolla minute up to 4 mm long (vs. hispid branches; bracts longer than the calyx, and corolla approximately three times longer than the calyx in V. rigida ).

Illustrations in O’Leary & Múlgura (2014).