Veronica teucrium
Veronica wormskjoldii
large speedwell
alpine speedwell, American alpine speedwell, hairy speedwell, spring speedwell, thyme-leaf speedwell, wormskjold's alpine speedwell
erect, rarely ascending, (15–)30–70(–100) cm, eglandular-hairy, hairs evenly distributed around stem.
erect or ascending, light grayish green distally, unbranched, (3–)8–50 cm, sparsely to densely villous-hirsute, sometimes also glandular-hairy.
blade ovate or oblong-ovate, rarely lanceolate, (20–)30–55(–70) × (6–)15–25(–45) mm, 2–3(–4) times as long as wide, base ± cordate, margins dentate to serrate to crenate-incised, rarely subentire, apex acute, abaxial surface hairy, adaxial glabrous.
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.
2–4(–8), axillary, 60–150 mm, 50–150-flowered, axis hairy;
bracts linear-lanceolate to linear, 4–8(–14) 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.
erect, 3–7(–14) mm, equal to subtending bract, eglandular-hairy.
erect, 2–10(–15) mm, ca. equal to subtending bract, densely villous-hirsute or glandular-hairy.
calyx 5-lobed, abaxial lobes 3–4 mm, adaxial 1–1.5 mm, apex acute, glabrous or hairy;
corolla bright blue, rarely pinkish or white, (9–)12–18 mm diam.;
stamens 4.5–6 mm;
style 5–6 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.
± compressed to ± round in cross section, broadly obovoid or obcordiform, (3–)4–5.5 × (2.5–)3.5–5 mm, apex not deeply, narrowly emarginate, glabrous or sparsely 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.
(2–)8–18, brown, widely ellipsoid to widely obovoid, flat, 1.2–2.1 × 1–1.5 mm, 0.2–0.4 mm thick, smooth.
10–50, straw colored, ellipsoid, flat, 0.7–1 × 0.4–1 mm, 0.05–1 mm thick, very minutely striate.
= 48, 64 (Europe).
Veronica teucrium
Veronica wormskjoldii
Veronica teucrium has often been considered an infraspecific taxon of V. austriaca; many records of V. teucrium have been reported under the name V. austriaca. The occurrence of V. austriaca in the narrow sense in the flora area could be neither supported nor excluded; it differs from V. teucrium mainly in distal leaves of the vegetative shoot linear and entire.
Related species have been introduced for horticultural reasons but apparently have not escaped. Veronica satureiifolia Poiteau & Turpin was reported from Missouri by G. Yatskievych [1999–2013; as V. scheereri (J.-P. Brandt) Holub] outside cultivation based on a single specimen and was similarly found in MIN but likely not naturalized. The name V. latifolia Linnaeus, which has at times been used for V. teucrium, is now considered ambiguous and should not be used (R. K. Brummitt 2007). Reports of V. teucrium in Saskatchewan have not been verified.
(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.)
1. Pedicels 2–5 mm; e North America. | subsp. wormskjoldii |
1. Pedicels (2–)5–10(–15) mm; w North America. | subsp. nutans |
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