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Verbenaceae
Phyla

not marked as a favorite taxon Phyla nodiflora (Linnaeus) Greene. Common name: Creeping Frogfruit, Capeweed, Turkey-tangle, Matgrass. Phenology: May-Nov. Habitat: Interdune swales, shell middens, sandy soils of roadsides, lawns, ditches, impoundments, disturbed areas. Distribution: Pantropical, in North America from se. VA south to s. FL and west to CA, north in the interior to AR, se. MO, and southward into the tropics.

Glossary (beta!)

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Other Comments: This species is very weedy, and is a familiar component of road margins and lawns in the southeastern Coastal Plain.

Synonymy ⓘ: = K4; = Phyla nodiflora (L.) Greene var. nodiflora — Bah, GrPl, O'Leary & Múlgura (2012); < Lippia nodiflora (L.) Michx. — F, Mo3, RAB; > Phyla incisa Small — Tx; < Phyla nodiflora (L.) Greene — Ar, C, Fl6, G, GW2, Meso4.2, Mex, NcTx, S, Va, WH3; > Phyla nodiflora (L.) Greene — Tx; < Phyla nodiflora (L.) Greene var. nodiflora; Verbena nodiflora Linnaeus. Basionym: Verbena nodiflora L. 1753

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Wetland Indicator Status:

  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FAC (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
  • Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
  • Great Plains: FAC (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
  • Midwest: FACW (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)

Heliophily ⓘ: 9

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image #1 of Phyla nodiflora© Keith Bradley | Original Image ⭷
image #2 of Phyla nodiflora© Keith Bradley | Original Image ⭷
image #3 of Phyla nodiflora© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #4 of Phyla nodiflora© Aidan Campos source | Original Image ⭷
image #5 of Phyla nodiflora© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #6 of Phyla nodiflora© Aidan Campos source | Original Image ⭷
image #7 of Phyla nodiflora© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷

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Horticultural Information

NCBG trait

Intro: Rambling-spreading perennial found in disturbed areas such as sandy lawns and roadsides. Native of S. America.

Stems: Stems sprawling, branched and rooting at the nodes, smooth.

Leaves: Leaves opposite, short-petiolate, oval to wedge-shaped (widest above middle), to 2 1/2 in. long, generally with 5 (3-7) teeth per side, semi-evergreen, red-tinged in cool weather, smooth.

Inforescence:

Flowers: Flowers in dense, cylindric heads, about â…“ in. long, on stalks from upper leaf axils; rose-purple to white with a yellow or pinkish-red eye; tiny; bilaterally symmetric; with a tubular corolla opening to 2 spreading lips, the upper one notched and the lower one larger and 3-lobed.

Fruits:

Comments:

Height: to 4 in. (tall)

plant sale text:

bloom table text:

description: Rambling-spreading perennial found in disturbed areas such as sandy lawns and roadsides. Native of S. America.

stems: Stems sprawling, branched and rooting at the nodes, smooth.

leaves: Leaves opposite, short-petiolate, oval to wedge-shaped (widest above middle), to 2 1/2 in. long, generally with 5 (3-7) teeth per side, semi-evergreen, red-tinged in cool weather, smooth.

inflorescence:

flowers: Flowers in dense, cylindric heads, about â…“ in. long, on stalks from upper leaf axils; rose-purple to white with a yellow or pinkish-red eye; tiny; bilaterally symmetric; with a tubular corolla opening to 2 spreading lips, the upper one notched and the lower one larger and 3-lobed.

fruits:

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cultural notes:

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native range:



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