Standing 3-feet tall with stems covered with spreading hairs, this large-scale plant has small-scale flowers. The stem often branches into 3 or more terminal spikes with tiny purple flowers that bloom in a ring from the bottom upward. Note the 4-angled stems.

FLOWERS: June–October. Dense spikes to 3/8-inch diameter (1 cm) bear tiny, tube-shaped flowers about 1/4-inch wide (6 mm) that open into 5 spreading petal-like lobes. The sepals supporting the petals are densely hairy and pointed and equal or shorter than the bracts.

LEAVES: Opposite. Blades oblong-elliptic to oval, 2 3/8–4-inches long (6–10 cm), densely hairy with prominent veins and coarse, irregular teeth, tips pointed.

HABITAT: Gravelly, loam soils, meadows, roadsides, disturbed areas; pinyon juniper, yellow/ponderosa-Douglas fir forests.

ELEVATION: 5,900–9,000 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, NM.

SIMILAR SPECIES: This the most common tall Verbena in NM. The tall, stout, hairy stems, dense spike, and hairy, toothed leaves help identify this species.

NM COUNTIES: Nearly statewide (not reported in eastern plains) in NM mountains in mid- to high-elevation habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Chaves, Cibola, Colfax, Dona Ana, Grant, Lincoln, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union, Valencia.