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Photographer: Merel R. Black
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Family Scrophulariaceae
Veronica officinalis L.
common gypsy-weed, common speedwell, speedwell
Veronica: named after Saint Veronica, the woman who gave Jesus a cloth to wipe his face while on the way to Calvary, and so named because the markings on some species supposedly resemble those on her sacred handkerchief
officinalis: Latin generally meaning "of the shops" or "sold in the marketplace" or "official"
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| Status: | Introduced - escaped |
| Plant: | spreading perennial, 2"-10" tall forb, hairy, creeping with erect branches |
| Flower: | light blue, 4-parted, 1/4"-1/3" wide, lobes longer than the tube; inflorescence a stalked, spike-like cluster (raceme) of stalked flowers only from the upper leaf axils; blooms April-July |
| Fruit: | triangular capsule |
| Leaf: | all opposite, oval to elliptical narrowing to the base, 1 1/2-3 times as long as wide, finely toothed, almost stalkless |
| Habitat: | dry; fields, upland woods |
| (Glossary) |
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