Verbenaceae
Herbs, shrubs or trees, sometimes lianes, sometimes thorny. Stems generally quadrangular. Lvs usually opposite, rarely whorled or alternate, exstipulate, usually simple, less commonly compound. Infl. racemose and often forming a head, or cymose and then usually dichotomous. Fls ± zygomorphic, usually 5-merous. Calyx (4)-5-(8)-lobed. Corolla 5-lobed, rotate and usually with narrow tube, occasionally campanulate, 2-lipped to nearly regular; lobes imbricate. Stamens usually 4, rarely 5 or 2, didynamous, epipetalous. Ovary superior, usually with 2 but occasionally 4-5 carpels, often divided by a false septum down each carpel. Ovules 2 to each true carpel. Style terminal; stigma usually lobed. Fr. generally a drupe, less commonly a capsule, rarely a schizocarp and each fr. usually dividing into 2 or 4 nutlets. Seed non-endospermic.
Key
c. 80 genera, 3000 spp., mostly tropical and subtropical, occasionally temperate.
A number of spp., other than those treated below, are commonly cultivated. Many of these are in the genera described below, but also the widespread tropical genus Vitex L. is represented in N.Z., mainly by the indigenous V. lucens Kirk, puriri, and the very dissimilar introduced V. agnus-castus L.
Verbenaceae and Lamiaceae are usually considered to be related families and have many features in common. However, the Lamiaceae has a gynobasic style and fls usually in verticels, whereas in the Verbenaceae the style is terminal and the fls are in racemes, cymes or very rarely verticels.
