Ten species of Verbena and their putative interspecific hybrids form the V. stricta complex. All species examined are self-compatible (4.0-87.9% seed-set) and cross-compatible with V. stricta; the greatest fertility from interspecific crosses was 55%. In most cases, natural seed-set was greater than that resulting from insect exclusion experiments. Morphologically, the species are distinct with the exceptions of the species pairs Verbena halei and V. officinalis and V. lasiostachys and V. robusta. The species are variably allogamous, cross-compatible, and often sympatric; there- fore, the potential for hybridization is great. Limited numbers of individuals are morphologically intermediate indicating a hybrid origin. However, hybridization appears to be rare. Verbena L. is a complex, New World genus of approximately 380 named taxa, including hybrids (Moldenke 1961). The genus includes two sec- tions, Verbena and Glandularia; the latter has been recognized as a seg- regate genus by many authors (reviewed in Umber 1979). The segre- gation is based in part on differences in chromosome size and number (Solbrig 1968). Section Verbena is further divided into series Pachystachyae and Leptostachyae (Perry 1933). Series Leptostachyae includes 24 species in North America including Verbena stricta. Based on herbarium specimens collected by Geyer, Engelmann (1844) proposed that interspecific hy- brids occur within the series. Moldenke (1958) proposed names for 16 putative interspecific hybrids (fig. 1), many on the basis of single records. Ten species, which are the putative parents of these hybrids and form the Verbena stricta complex, are widely distributed in North America pri- marily north of Mexico and frequently coexist (Moldenke 1958; Perkins