Veronica peregrina L.

• Authority

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

• Family

  Scrophulariaceae

• Scientific Name

  Veronica peregrina L.

• Description

  Species Description - Annual 0.5–3 dm, simple or branched especially below; main lvs oblong or linear-oblong to oblanceolate, 0.5–3 cm × 1–8 mm, irregularly toothed or entire; infl terminal, elongate, lax; bracts alternate, gradually reduced upwards, often not much different from the lvs, each subtending a single subsessile fl; cor white or whitish, only 2 mm wide; mature pedicels 1–2 mm; fr 3–4 mm, ± obcordate, the notch varying in depth; style very short, 0.1–0.3 mm; seeds numerous, 0.4–0.8 mm; 2n=52. Moist places; temperate N. and S. Amer., and intr. in Europe. Apr.–Sept. Our common form, the var. peregrina, is glabrous. The chiefly western var. xalapensis (Kunth) H. St. John, has the stem and commonly also the sep and frs ± pubescent with short, gland-tipped hairs; it reaches the w. edge of our range, and extends e. to the Atlantic along our n. border.

• Common Names

  purslane speedwell