Veronica officinalis

Spreading-hairy perennial, the stems with creeping base and assurgent tips and branches, 0.5-2.5 dm; lvs all opposite, elliptic or elliptic-obovate, narrowed to a ±petiolar base, 1.5-5 נ0.6-3 cm, 1.5-3 times as long as wide, rather finely serrate, the larger ones with mostly 12-20 teeth per side; racemes axillary, pedunculate, spiciform, the pedicels 1-2 mm, surpassed by the small, alternate bracts; cor light blue, sometimes with darker lines, 4-8 mm wide; fr 4 mm, broadly triangular-subcordate, shallowly retuse; style 2.5-4.5 mm; seeds 6-12 per locule, 1 mm; 2n=18, 32-36. Dry fields and upland woods; native of Europe, now well established throughout our range. Apr.-July.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

From Flora of Indiana (1940) by Charles C. Deam

This species prefers a dry and rather sandy soil. It is infrequent in the lake area and progressively less frequent to rare southward. It is most frequent in pastures and open woodland.

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Indiana Coefficient of Conservatism: C = null, non-native

Wetland Indicator Status: UPL

Diagnostic Traits: leaves toothed, hairy beneath; flowers (and fruits) in pedunculate racemes that arise from axils of opposite leaves; pedicles to 2.5 mm long; sepals to 3.5 mm; corollas up to 8 mm wide; capsule with clearly glandular hairy.