''Veronica filiformis'' 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 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 known by many common names, including slender speedwell, creeping speedwell, threadstalk speedwell and Whetzel weed. It is native to eastern Europe and western Asia, and it is known in many other regions as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

Description

''V. filiformis'' is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing mats of hairy stems that readily root at nodes that touch substrate. It is self-sterile and rarely seeds, being spread by

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...

s. The corolla of ''V. filiformis'' is four-lobed and blueish with a white tip, around 8–10 mm in diameter, the top lobe being largest since it is actually a fusion of two lobes. At the center are two long, protruding

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. Solitary flowers occur in leaf axils. They are on relatively long, slender stalks that arise from the

leaf axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

s, and appear between April and July. The leaves, found near the base of the stem, are 5–10 mm across, rounded or kidney-shaped with blunt teeth and short stalks, and smaller on distal parts. It is perennial. In

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the plant was sewn into the clothing of travellers for good luck.

Status and habitat

A native to northern Turkey and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

, ''V. filiformis'' was introduced to the United Kingdom from Turkey in 1808 as a rock garden plant and was first reported as an escape in 1838. It was introduced to the United States nursery trade in the 1920s. It can sometimes be considered a nuisance in lawns,

sod Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...

, and turf. It is found in gardens, grassy paths and in meadows, where it prefers shade, moist soils, good fertility and a low mowing height. It

reproduces asexually Asexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that does not involve the fusion of gametes or change in the number of chromosomes. The offspring that arise by asexual reproduction from either unicellular or multicellular organisms inherit the fu ...

by resprouting from separated sections of stem and rhizome and easily takes hold in new habitat. The plant is used as

groundcover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought. In an ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as t ...

in gardens, and valued for its pretty blue flowers, but it is easily dispersed into the environment if it is chopped up, during

mowing A mower is a person or machine that cuts (mows) grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for harvesting grain crops, e.g. with reapers ...

, for example.Kaufman, J. E
Chemical control of ''Veronica filifolia'' in turfgrass.
Michigan Turfgrass Conference 1977. It is still cultivated, sold, and used in gardening.

Identification

''V. filiformis'' is similar to other ''Veronica'' species, such as '' V. arvensis'' and '' V. chamaedrys'', but can be distinguished by the size of its leaves and lack of seed capsules.

Common names

''V. filiformis'' is known by the following common names: *Slender speedwell *Creeping speedwell *Threadstalk speedwell *Caucasian speedwell *Round-leaved speedwell *Creeping Veronica *Whetzel weed

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentWashington Burke MuseumPhoto gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veronica filiformis filiformis Flora of Turkey Flora of the United Kingdom