Verbena

Verbena officinalis, the common vervain or common verbena, is a perennial herb native to Europe.
It grows up to a metre/yard high, with an upright habitus. The lobed leaves are toothed, the delicate spikes hold mauve flowers.
This plant prefers limey soils; it is occasionally grown as an ornamental plant but perhaps more often for the powerful properties some herbalists ascribe to it.
Propagation is by root cuttings or seed. It is widely naturalised outside its native range, for example in North America.

Common vervain has been held in high esteem since the Classical Antiquity; it has long been associated with divine and other supernatural forces, and it has an equally long-standing use as a medicinal plant.
Herbal capsules are used as a soporific drug in much the same way as for the better known valerian.

Verbena officinalis herb has been used in the traditional Austrian medicine internally (as tea or liqueur) for treatment of infections and fever.
Medical use of Common Vervain is usually as a herbal tea.

Chemical investigations of petroleum ether and chloroform extracts led to the isolation of β-sitosterol, ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, 3-epiursolic acid, 3-epioleanolic acid and minor triterpenoids of derivatives of ursolic acid and oleanolic acids. Chromatographic purification of the methanol extract yield two iridoid glucosides (verbenalin and hastatoside), a phenylpropanoid glycoside, verbascoside and β-sitosterol-D-glucoside. Hastatoside and verbenalin have sleep-promoting (soporific) properties. It also contains a monoterpene alcohol called verbenol. In another study, four compounds were isolated and identified as apigenin, 4'-hydroxywogonin, verbenalin, and hastatoside. Aucubin has also been found as one the active constituents.