''Veronica officinalis'', the heath speedwell, common gypsyweed, common speedwell, or Paul's betony, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the

plantain Plantain may refer to: Plants and fruits * Cooking banana, banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking ** True plantains, a group of cultivars of the genus ''Musa'' * ''Plantaginaceae'', a family of flowerin ...

family

Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "plantain." In older cl ...

. It is native to

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and western

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. It has been introduced to North America and is widely

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

there.

Description

It is a herbaceous

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

with hairy green stems long that cover the ground in mats and send up short vertical shoots which bear soft violet flowers. The leaves are and broad, and softly hairy. Heath Speedwell (Veronica officinalis) in Pennsylvania

Heath Speedwell (Veronica officinalis) in Pennsylvania

It flowers from May until August.

Cultivation and uses

This speedwell grows in open areas, such as fields, meadows and gardens, where it is sometimes grown as an edible, or

medicinal herb Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection ag ...

. The slightly bitter and astringent taste and tea-like smell of speedwell led to its use as a tea substitute in 19th-century France, where it was called ''thé d'Europe'', or "Europe tea". The French still use this term as a name for speedwell.

References

External links

Skye Flora
{{Taxonbar, from=Q156402 Medicinal plants

officinalis ''Officinalis'', or ''officinale'', is a Medieval Latin epithet denoting organisms—mainly plants—with uses in medicine, herbalism and cookery. It commonly occurs as a specific epithet, the second term of a two-part botanical name. ''Officinali ...

Flora of Europe Flora of the Caucasus Flora of Western Asia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus