Family |
Plantaginaceae
Veronica anagallis-aquatica
L.
Veronica anagallis-aquatica L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 12 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 251, Pl. CXXX, 1–2; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Usually perennial herb with a short creeping rhizome and erect, often stout, hairless stems, 5–120 cm tall. Basal shoots may creep.
Leaves: Hairless, 15–100 mm long and 7–35 mm wide, variable from oblong or lanceolate to ovate or elliptic, with finely toothed or nearly entire margins. Upper leaves are sessile and often stem-clasping; lower leaves may have short stalks.
Inflorescence & flowers: Lateral racemes bear about 20–50 flowers each. The corolla is pale blue to pale lilac, 5–7 mm across, and exceeds the calyx.
Fruit: Capsule broadly elliptic to rounded or ovate, with an entire or slightly notched top; hairless or sparsely glandular-hairy.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering March–September.
Habitat & elevation: Streams, lake margins, ditches, springs and marshes, in wet or seasonally flooded ground up to the high mountains; the base is often submerged.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Saida, Nahr Aouali, Beirut, Nahr Beirut, Fourn el Chebbak, Nahr el Kalb, Jounieh, Tripoli, between Broummana and Faraya, Salima, Sfire, Aramoun spring, Kfar Houne, Chemlan, Hasroun valley, Bcharre, Ehden, Ain Hajal near Sannine, south of Khan Sannine, Jourd Tannourine, Yammoune, Ksara, Qab Elias, Haouch Ghanem, Ammiq, Rachaya, Hasbaya–Rachaya and Ain Daher above Ain Ata.
Syrian distribution: Soda near Tartous, Ain Halakim, Hama, northeast of Homs, Tell Eddah, east of Aleppo, Hamidiye, Oudehi, Damascus, Ghouta, Outaya, Raboue, Chabaa, Wadi el Qarn, Maloula, Ain es Sar above Bloudane, southeastern Mount Hermon, Banias, Jilline, Hamme, Kafer, Soueida–Tell Qouleib, Jabal Druze, Chahba, Qaryatein, Arak and east of Qamechliye.
Native range: Albania, Algeria, Altay, Assam, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Baltic States, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Buryatiya, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Central European Russia, Chad, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, Djibouti, DR Congo, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, East Himalaya, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Free State, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Irkutsk, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Kriti, Krym, KwaZulu-Natal, Lebanon-Syria, Lesotho, Libya, Madeira, Manchuria, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northern Provinces, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Qinghai, Romania, Rwanda, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Somalia, South European Russia, Spain, Sudan-South Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Tanzania, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, West Himalaya, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Introduced into: Alabama, Alberta, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Arizona, Bolivia, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, British Columbia, California, Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Japan, Juan Fernández Is., Kansas, Kentucky, Korea, Maine, Maryland, Mauritius, Mexico Northwest, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, New Zealand North, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Peru, Primorye, Rhode I., South Dakota, St.Helena, Tennessee, Texas, Uruguay, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.