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Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
Also called Jamaica Vervain, Brazilian Tea, Indian Snakeweed, Jamaican Porterweed, Jamaican Snakeweed, Purple Worm Bush, Rerrer Vine
In Singapore: Purple Snakeweed, Brazilian Tea, Rooter Comb, Verbena Cimarrona, Gervao, Blue Porter Weed (Naturalised in Singapore)
Light-blue snakeweed is a sprawling, shrub-like subshrub native to the Caribbean and the southeastern United States, and it is often seen along roadsides and on disturbed ground. It is a tough, adaptable plant that thrives in full sun and tolerates poor, sandy soils.
Stachytarpheta jamaicensis is a species of plant in the family Verbenaceae, native throughout the Caribbean, including Florida. It has many common names including blue porterweed, blue snake weed, bastard vervain, Brazilian tea, Jamaica vervain, light-blue snakeweed, and, in St. Croix, worryvine.source? It usually is found along country roadsides, and it also grows well as a ruderal plant on disturbed terrain.
A similar plant, Stachytarpheta cayennensis, which is an invasive species in Florida, is sometimes mistaken for S. jamaicensis.
This species grows on sand dunes, within pine rocklands, and at disturbed sites. It has been observed growing in sandy, loamy, and clay soils.
The fresh leaves are consumed in bush tea as a "cooling" tonic and blood cleanser, to treat "asthma" and "ulcerated stomachs".
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Stachytarpheta jamaicensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
