Veronica copelandii |
Veronica wormskjoldii |
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Copeland's speedwell |
alpine speedwell, American alpine speedwell, hairy speedwell, spring speedwell, thyme-leaf speedwell, wormskjold's alpine speedwell |
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Habit | Perennials. | Perennials. | ||||
Stems | ascending, unbranched, 5–15 cm, densely glandular-hairy. |
erect or ascending, light grayish green distally, unbranched, (3–)8–50 cm, sparsely to densely villous-hirsute, sometimes also glandular-hairy. |
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Leaves | blade oblong-elliptic, (5–)10–15(–35) × 4–8 mm, base cuneate, margins entire, apex short-acuminate, surfaces hairy. |
blade elliptic to lanceolate or oblong-ovate, 8–40 × 5–20 mm, base cuneate, margins entire, dentate, or serrate, apex short-acuminate, surfaces sparsely to densely villous-hirsute or glabrous. |
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Racemes | 1, terminal, distalmost leaves often with 1 or 2 axillary flowers, 10–80 mm, (3–)5–15-flowered, axis glandular-hairy; bracts lanceolate, 3–5 mm. |
1, terminal, 5–40 mm, to 60(–150) mm in fruit, (2–)5–25-flowered, axis densely villous-hirsute and ± glandular-hairy; bracts linear to lanceolate, 1–8 mm. |
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Pedicels | erect, 5–8 mm, equal to ± longer than subtending bract, densely glandular-hairy. |
erect, 2–10(–15) mm, ca. equal to subtending bract, densely villous-hirsute or glandular-hairy. |
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Flowers | calyx 4(or 5)-lobed, lobes (1–)2–3 mm, apex obtuse, glandular-hairy; corolla pale blue to purple, rotate, 8–10 mm diam.; stamens 4–5 mm; style 7 mm. |
calyx lobes (2.5–)3–5.5(–7) mm, apex obtuse or acuminate, glabrous or densely glandular-hairy; corolla deep blue-violet or violet-purple to deep blue, rotate, 3–11 mm diam.; stamens 1–2 mm; style 0.8–4(–6) mm. |
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Capsules | compressed in cross section, broadly oblong, 5–6 × 3.5 mm, longer than wide, apex emarginate, glandular-hairy. |
compressed in cross section, oblong-obovoid, 4–6(–8) × (2.8–)4–5.5 mm, ca. as long as wide, apex emarginate, usually densely glandular-hairy. |
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Seeds | number unknown, brown, ovoid, flat, 1–1.2 × 0.7–1.1 mm, thickness and texture unknown. |
10–50, straw colored, ellipsoid, flat, 0.7–1 × 0.4–1 mm, 0.05–1 mm thick, very minutely striate. |
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2n | = 18. |
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Veronica copelandii |
Veronica wormskjoldii |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Aug. | |||||
Habitat | Subalpine meadows, alpine slopes. | |||||
Elevation | 1900–2500 m. (6200–8200 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
CA |
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; ME; MT; NH; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NT; NU; ON; QC; YT
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Discussion | Veronica copelandii is sister to V. cusickii in the phylogenetic analysis by D. C. Albach et al. (2006). It occurs in the Klamath Ranges of northwestern California. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). Veronica wormskjoldii occurs in two cytotypes, a diploid (2n = 18) in western North America and a tetraploid (2n = 36) in eastern North America and Greenland. As demonstrated by D. C. Albach et al. (2006), the tetraploid is likely to be a hybrid of the diploid V. alpina and V. wormskjoldii. In that publication, species rank was used for simplicity, not as a taxonomic conclusion. However, subsequent morphological analyses in conjunction with preparing this treatment revealed that the large variation in the diploid V. wormskjoldii, also supported by the large number of varieties established within that taxon, make it nearly impossible to differentiate the two North American taxa morphologically. In cases where two taxa are morphologically undifferentiable, but karyologically and genetically distinct and geographically clearly separate, the rank of subspecies seems more appropriate. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 310. | FNA vol. 17, p. 309. | ||||
Parent taxa | ||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | V. alpina subsp. wormskjoldii, V. alpina var. wormskjoldii | |||||
Name authority | Eastwood: Bot. Gaz. 41: 288, fig. 2. (1906) — (as copelandi) | Roemer & Schultes: in J. J. Roemer et al., Syst. Veg. 1: 101. (1817) — (as wormskjoldi) | ||||
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