| Author | Vellozo | |
| Distribution | Across the state, although scarce in the Mountains. First collected in 1897 on ballast at Wilmington, New Hanover County. Certainly present in most counties in the state now, except in the Mountains.
Native of South America; in N.A. VA to MO south to FL and TX; also OR to CA. | |
| Abundance | Frequent to now quite common in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain; rare in the Mountains. | |
| Habitat | Roadsides, weedy fields, railroads, campus weed, low area by airfield, margins of streams, ballast dump, clearings. |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting May-October. | |
| Identification | Brazilian Vervain is a quite familiar roadside "weed"; it is a 1-few-stemmed plant ranging to 7 feet tall, but normally is about 4-5 feet tall. The stem leaves are tapered basally (vs. sessile and clasping in V. bonariensis), sharply toothed and lance-shaped. The inflorescence consists of terminal and axillary shoots with flat-topped clusters of short spikes. These spikes have many tiny lavender to pale purple flowers. V. bonariensis also differs in its longer corolla tubes, and its flowers are a richer purple color. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | | |
| Other Common Name(s) | | |
| State Rank | SE | |
| Global Rank | GNR | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FACU link |
| USACE-emp | FACU link |
