Burke: Veronica catenata vs. Veronica regina-nivalis

	Veronica catenata	Veronica regina-nivalis
	chain speedwell	round-leaved kittentails, snow queen
Habit	Glabrous, short-lived perennial from fibrous roots, the stems usually erect, 2-10 dm. tall.	Herbaceous perennial from a short rhizome or woody base, with several curved, scapose peduncles from the base less than 1.5 dm. long.
Leaves	Leaves opposite, sessile and clasping, elliptic-ovate to elliptic-oblong, 3-5 times as long as wide, entire.	Leaves all basal, long-petiolate, the blades reniform-cordate to ovate-cordate, palmately veined, 2-8 cm. long and wide, sparsely hairy above and often glabrous beneath, with shallow lobes, the lobes again toothed.
Flowers	Inflorescence of few-flowered racemes on long peduncles arising in the leaf axils; calyx of 4 broad, blunt sepals; corolla white to pink, rotate, 4-lobed, the upper lobe the largest, about 5 mm. wide; style 1.5-2.5 mm. long; pedicels spreading, 3-8 mm. long; stamens 2.	Flowers few in a short raceme, terminal on the naked, weak peduncles; calyx of 4 sepals; corolla light blue, bell-shaped, the 4 lobes a little shorter than the tube, the upper lobe the largest; stamens 2; stigmas capitate.
Fruits	swollen, 2.5-4 mm. high and a little wider, shallowly notched.	Capsule 2-4 mm. high and 6-8 mm. wide, with long hairs on the margins.

	Veronica catenata	Veronica regina-nivalis
Flowering time	June-August	March-May
Habitat	Slow-moving streams and ditches.	Forest understory at low to moderate elevations.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map]	Occurring west of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; Washington to California. [WildflowerSearch map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	V. americana, V. anagallis-aquatica, V. argute-serrata, V. arvensis, V. chamaedrys, V. cusickii, V. dissecta, V. filiformis, V. hederifolia, V. ×lackschewitzii, V. longifolia, V. missurica, V. officinalis, V. peregrina, V. persica, V. polita, V. regina-nivalis, V. rubra, V. schizantha, V. scutellata, V. serpyllifolia, V. triphyllos, V. verna, V. wormskjoldii	V. americana, V. anagallis-aquatica, V. argute-serrata, V. arvensis, V. catenata, V. chamaedrys, V. cusickii, V. dissecta, V. filiformis, V. hederifolia, V. ×lackschewitzii, V. longifolia, V. missurica, V. officinalis, V. peregrina, V. persica, V. polita, V. rubra, V. schizantha, V. scutellata, V. serpyllifolia, V. triphyllos, V. verna, V. wormskjoldii
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Veronica regina-nivalis

chain speedwell

round-leaved kittentails, snow queen

Habit

Glabrous, short-lived perennial from fibrous roots, the stems usually erect, 2-10 dm. tall.

Herbaceous perennial from a short rhizome or woody base, with several curved, scapose peduncles from the base less than 1.5 dm. long.

Leaves

Leaves opposite, sessile and clasping, elliptic-ovate to elliptic-oblong, 3-5 times as long as wide, entire.

Leaves all basal, long-petiolate, the blades reniform-cordate to ovate-cordate, palmately veined, 2-8 cm. long and wide, sparsely hairy above and often glabrous beneath, with shallow lobes, the lobes again toothed.

Flowers

Inflorescence of few-flowered racemes on long peduncles arising in the leaf axils;

calyx of 4 broad, blunt sepals;

corolla white to pink, rotate, 4-lobed, the upper lobe the largest, about 5 mm. wide;

style 1.5-2.5 mm. long;

pedicels spreading, 3-8 mm. long;

stamens 2.

Flowers few in a short raceme, terminal on the naked, weak peduncles;

calyx of 4 sepals;

corolla light blue, bell-shaped, the 4 lobes a little shorter than the tube, the upper lobe the largest;

stamens 2;

stigmas capitate.