Veronica anagallis-aquatica - Water Speedwell

Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Equisetopsida - Order: Lamiales - Family: Plantaginaceae

At first glance this far-from-common streamside wildflower could be mistaken for its more ubiquitous relative Brooklime, but Water Speedwell is much taller and has paler blue flowers, sometimes with a mauve tint.

Description

Typically about 50cm tall but occasionally growing to a metre, Water Speedwell is a short-lived perennial that spreads via rooting side branches as well as by seed. The main stems turn upright after rooting and are branching, with opposite broadly-lanceolate leaves, stalked near the base but unstalked and classping the stems higher up. Flowers, in spiked racemes of 20 to 50, have four dark-veined petals on a pale-bleu or purplish-blue background and are 5 to 9 mm across.

Distribution

Water Speedwell is an introduced species in Britain and Ireland, where it is now fairly common in the wild many areas except for the far north, parts of the midlands and the south west. Elsewhere in mainland Europe this plant is also quite a common. It is native to North America.

Habitat

This low-growing member of the speedwell group is found mainly in the margins of streams and some permanently wet pastures.

Blooming Times

The flowers of the Water Speedwell first appear in June, and this semi-aquatic plant generally continues blooming until the end of August.

Etymology

Veronica, the genus name, probably comes from the Latin adjective vera- meaning true, and -nica meaning image. When St. Veronica wiped Christ's forehead on they way to his crucifixion on Mount Calvary, an image of his face was left on the cloth she had used.

The specific epithet anagallis-aquatica is a bit confusing, since anagallis comes from Greek words that mean 'delight in again' and would therefore seem to refer to flowers that close up at night a reopen the next day (a behaviour that botanists refer to as nyctinasty) - as for example do the flowers of Scarlet Pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis. This isnot a characteristic associated with the speedwells. The second part - aquatica - is quite obviously a reference to the watery habitat in which these plants grow,

Similar Species

Germander Speedwell Veronica chamaedrys has similar blue flowers; it has two lines of long hairs on opposite sides of its stems, and it grows in meadows, in hedgerows, in sparse deciduous woodland and on mountain slopes.

Brooklime Veronica becabunga has darker blue flowers, rounded leaves and a lower growing habit.

Pink Water-speedwell Veronica catenata is a species native to Britain and mainly flound in the south-east of England. As the common name suggests, it has pink flowers.

The plants shown on this page were photographed in West Wales in July.