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American brooklime, American speedwell, brooklime, European speedwell, véronique beccabunga

alpine speedwell, véronique alpine

Habit Perennials.
Stems

ascending, often dark bluish distally, sparsely branched at base, 5–15(–25) cm, eglandular-hairy.

Leaves

blade ovate or oblong-elliptic, 7–30 × 4–20 mm, base cuneate, margins indistinctly dentate or entire, apex short-acuminate, abaxial surface glabrate, adaxial ± hairy.

Racemes

1, terminal, 5–20 mm, to 30 mm in fruit, (1–)3–20-flowered, axis eglandular-hairy;

bracts oblanceolate, 4–5 mm.

Pedicels

ascending to erect, 1.5–2(–4) mm, shorter than subtending bract, eglandular-hairy.

Flowers

calyx lobes 3–4 mm, ciliate, apex obtuse or acuminate, eglandular-hairy;

corolla sky blue or blue-violet, sometimes white, rotate, 2.5–5.5 mm diam.;

stamens 2–2.3 mm;

style 0.5–1.5(–2) mm.

Capsules

compressed in cross section, obovoid or oblong-obovoid, 4.5–7.5 × 3.5–5.5 mm, ca. as long as wide, apex shallowly emarginate, eglandular-hairy or glabrate.

Seeds

9–53, brown to yellow, ellipsoid-oblong, flat, 0.7–1.2 × 0.4–1 mm, 0.1 mm thick, smooth.

2n

= 18.

Veronica beccabunga

Veronica alpina

Phenology Flowering (Jun–)Jul–Aug.
Habitat Slopes, moist rocks, hillocks, moist alpine and subalpine meadows.
Elevation 0–1000 m. (0–3300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CT; IL; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; NJ; NV; NY; OH; PA; VA; WI; WV; BC; ON; QC; Eurasia; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in s South America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NU; QC; Greenland; Eurasia
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 3 (1 in the flora).

Subspecies abscondita M. A. Fischer is found from eastern Turkey to western Iran, while the native range of subsp. muscosa (Korshinsky) Elenevsky extends from eastern Iran to southern China.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 312. FNA vol. 17, p. 309.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Veronica Plantaginaceae > Veronica
Sibling taxa
V. agrestis, V. alpina, V. americana, V. anagallis-aquatica, V. argute-serrata, V. arvensis, V. biloba, V. catenata, V. chamaedrys, V. copelandii, V. cusickii, V. cymbalaria, V. dillenii, V. filiformis, V. fruticans, V. grandiflora, V. hederifolia, V. longifolia, V. officinalis, V. peregrina, V. persica, V. polita, V. scutellata, V. serpyllifolia, V. spicata, V. stelleri, V. sublobata, V. teucrium, V. triloba, V. triphyllos, V. undulata, V. verna, V. wormskjoldii
V. agrestis, V. americana, V. anagallis-aquatica, V. argute-serrata, V. arvensis, V. beccabunga, V. biloba, V. catenata, V. chamaedrys, V. copelandii, V. cusickii, V. cymbalaria, V. dillenii, V. filiformis, V. fruticans, V. grandiflora, V. hederifolia, V. longifolia, V. officinalis, V. peregrina, V. persica, V. polita, V. scutellata, V. serpyllifolia, V. spicata, V. stelleri, V. sublobata, V. teucrium, V. triloba, V. triphyllos, V. undulata, V. verna, V. wormskjoldii
Subordinate taxa
V. beccabunga subsp. beccabunga
Synonyms V. alpina subsp. australis, V. alpina var. australis, V. pumila
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 12. (1753) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 11. (1753)
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