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Scrophulariaceae
Veronica americana
American Brooklime, American Speedwell
This entry has yet to be reviewed and approved by L2G editors.
In any low, wet pocket of a woodland, meadow or ditch, the American speedwell may sprawl its stems into a groundcover thicket to engangle your feet. A prostrate herbaceous perennial with tiny blue flowers, it is native across most of temperate North America, except for Mexico and the southerneastern-most United States. Not an ornamental garden plant, American speedwell is usually regarded as a weed of wet areas, even though the flowers are delicate and pretty.
The long stems root at their nodes atop the moist soil. The plant is usually prostrate unless grown in amply fertile and wet soils. Buds from the bases of leaves sprout upward in summer to display the tiny, four-petaled blue flowers in a wispy cluster. The deep green leaves, which are oval and have small rounded teeth, appear in opposite pairs on the reddish stems. Each leaf blade has a short petiole stem, which helps distinguish American speedwell from the similarly looking aquatic plant called water speedwell.
American speedwell grows well in moist to soggy soil along the edges of lakes, ponds and streams, or in soil depressions in the dappled light in woodlands. If soil moisture is ample, nearly full sun is tolerated, otherwise it excels in partial sun or light shade with very bright, diffused light. Plants may sprout from seed or more frequently, from sprouts on older plants with spreading rhizome root systems.
9 - 1
2 - 9
A2, A3, 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
Perennial
Partial Shade
6"-24" / 15.2cm - 61.0cm
3'-4' / 0.9m - 1.2m
Late Spring, Early Summer, Summer, Late Summer
Northeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic United States, North-Central United States, Central United States, South-Central United States, Western United States, Northwestern United States, Southwestern United States, Alaska, California, Texas, Canada
Acidic, Neutral
Poorly Drained
Clay, Loam, Sand
Wet Site
Fast
Average Water
Spreading
Summer
Showy
Sky Blue
Green
No
Single
Yes
Medium
Matte
Bog Garden, Wildflower
Sometimes
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