Ivy-leaved Speedwell (Invasive Exotic Plants of North Carolina)

Ivy-leaved Speedwell

Veronica hederifolia

Summary ⁷

Veronica hederifolia (Ivy-leaved Speedwell) is a flowering plant belonging to the family Plantaginaceae. It is native to Eurasia and it is present in other places as an introduced species and a common weed. It is an annual herb growing from a taproot and producing a hairy, spreading stem up to about 60 centimeters long. The stem is lined with rounded leaves with blades which are divided shallowly into 3 to 5 lobes and borne on petioles....

Comments ⁸

This is one of several Veronica spp. from Europe that are weedy annuals and they prefer similar habitats. Ivy-Leaved Speedwell can be distinguished from similar species by a combination of the following characteristics

Description ⁹

This wildflower is an annual about 2-6" tall. A typical plant has a central stem that branches near the base, forming multiple lateral stems about 2-12" long that are unbranched. These stems creep along the ground or they are weakly ascending. Each stem is light green to reddish brown, terete, and conspicuously hairy. Along the lower one-third of each stem, pairs of opposite leaves are produced, otherwise the leaves are alternate. Individual leaf blades are ¼-¾" across and a little shorter in length; they are orbicular-reniform in shape with 3-5 shallow rounded lobes or crenate teeth along their margins. The leaf blades are medium green with appressed hairs above and either appressed or spreading hairs below; their margins are conspicuously ciliate, and they have a slightly succulent texture. The petioles are the same length or a little shorter than the leaves, light green, and conspicuously hairy. Individual flowers develop across from the alternate leaves on slender pedicels about ¼-1" long. These pedicels are light green and short-pubescent. Individual flowers are about 1/8" across, consisting of a pale purple corolla with 4 spreading lobes, 4 green to reddish green sepals that are almost as long as the corolla, 2 stamens with white anthers, and a 2-celled ovary with a single short style. The corolla has several fine veins that originate from its center; they are a darker shade of purple. The sepals are cordate-ovate in shape, pubescent along their outer sides, and conspicuously ciliate along their margins. The blooming period occurs from mid- to late-spring for about 2 months; some plants may bloom later in the fall. The flowers are capable of self-pollination. Later, they are replaced by 2-valved seed capsules about 1/8" across (or a little more). Each seed capsule is globoid in shape, slightly flattened, and only slightly constricted between the two valves; its exterior is glabrous. Each capsule contains 4 seeds (2 seeds per cell). Each small seed has a deep depression along one side. The root system consists of a shallow branching taproot. This wildflower often forms colonies of plants by reseeding itself.

Sources and Credits

(c) .Bambo., some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/bambolia/2309720864/
(c) Mr. Tonreg, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonreg/7131281999/
(c) courambel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/courambel/422035371/
(c) stanze, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanzebla/16979865377/
(c) Steven J. Baskauf, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/baskauf/17710
(c) 2006 Luigi Rignanese, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=183385&one=T
Adapted by Kate Wagner from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronica_hederifolia
(c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29586569
(c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29447821

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