Verbenaceæ

Verbenaceæ, a natural order of gamopetal plants, consisting chiefly of trees and shrubs, but partly also of herbaceous plants. The leaves are generally opposite and simple, and have no stipules; the flowers are generally in corymbs or spikes. The order contains fifty-nine genera and about 740 species, chiefly tropical, some of them natives of temperate countries. The Verbenaceæ are allied to Labiatæ both in botanical characters and in properties, but the leaves have no oil-glands. Some are beautiful ornaments of gardens and hot-houses; some are esteemed for their fragrance; some are used in medicine; the fruit of some species, as Premna esculenta and species of Lantana, is eaten; the leaves of Stachytarpheta jamaicensis are used as a substitute for tea; and the timber of a number of species (e.g. teak) is valuable.