WOOD SPEEDWELL

Veronica montana

Plantain Family [Plantaginaceae]

month8apr month8april month8may month8jun month8june month8jul month8july

status
statusZnative
flower
flower8mauve
flower
flower8blue
inner
inner8white
morph
morph8zygo
petals
petalsZ4
stem
stem8round
sex
sexZbisexual

26th April 2014, woods, near Runcorn East, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
A low, short (p to 40cm long) and sprawling perennial with flowers much smaller than the large leaves.


4th May 2019, Fairy Glen, Appley Bridge, Lancs. Photo: © RWD


4th May 2019, Fairy Glen, Appley Bridge, Lancs. Photo: © RWD


26th April 2014, woods, near Runcorn East, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Leaves oval to broad-oval and serrately toothed. Leaf stems 5-15mm long.


4th May 2019, Fairy Glen, Appley Bridge, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Leaves with forwardly-directed curved teeth (serrate).


26th April 2014, woods, near Runcorn East, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Leaves hairy.


26th April 2014, woods, near Runcorn East, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Flowers in racemes.


28th April 2019, towpath, Gathurst, L&L Canal, nr Wigan. Photo: © RWD
The flowers are on longish and well spaced flower stalks, which have a long narrow bract just beneath where they branch off a stem.


26th April 2014, woods, near Runcorn East, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Flowers pale lilac-blue, 8-10mm across.


26th April 2014, woods, near Runcorn East, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Stems hairy all around. The upper leaves are without stalks (sessile).


4th May 2019, Fairy Glen, Appley Bridge, Lancs. Photo: © RWD


26th April 2014, woods, near Runcorn East, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Two stamens with purplish anthers.


26th April 2014, woods, near Runcorn East, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Four (unequal) sepals.


26th April 2014, woods, near Runcorn East, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Sepals and stems are hairy and with tiny blobs (it could be a tiny 'T-bar'?) on the ends. The hairs on the stem are all around the stem (rather than in two opposite longitudinal lines).


22nd April 2011, Eaglehead Copse, IOW Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone
The obovate-shaped petals have hairs with tiny glands at their tips.


4th May 2019, Fairy Glen, Appley Bridge, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Two anthers (pale pink and reflexed [here]) on long azure-purple filaments. Style concolorous with filaments (but longer) and with a discoidal pale-pink stigma at the end. 4 unequal petals, lower one shortest, upper one largest, side ones of equal size, but then most (all?) Speedwells have flowers like this. But the flowers vary in size and in colour between species.


28th April 2019, towpath, Gathurst, L&L Canal, nr Wigan. Photo: © RWD
They dont grow this tall! This specimen was hand held to try and obtain a clearer photo of the upper part of the plant.


22nd April 2017, Loggerheads Country Pk, N. Wales. Photo: © RWD
The leaves with their bluntish teeth.


28th April 2019, towpath, Gathurst, L&L Canal, nr Wigan. Photo: © RWD
The very thin hairs on the leaves emerge from the leaves surface from tiny pimples. The hairs themselves are so thin you can hardly see them in this photo.


22nd April 2017, Loggerheads Country Pk, N. Wales. Photo: © RWD
Hairy stems and leaves with tiny Hydathode tips (which release excess water when necessary).


22nd April 2017, Loggerheads Country Pk, N. Wales. Photo: © RWD
'Telescoped' stems where opposite leaves on long curving stalks diverge. The dark lines on the leaf (bottom right) are the shadows from the tiny hairs scattered on the leafs surface.


22nd April 2017, Loggerheads Country Pk, N. Wales. Photo: © RWD
The stem has long translucent hairs all around which look like they variously have tiny hooked tips or T-bars at the ends.


22nd April 2011, Eaglehead Copse, IOW Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone
The fruits are in two flattish conjoined oval pale-green flanges with two nicks, one at the top the other where the flower stalk has four obovate-shaped sepals; two each side of the fruit. The two halves of the fruit an oval bulge within: the seed, which here is pale-yellow.


Some similarities to : Green Field-Speedwell (Veronica agrestis) but that has pale-blue flowers and the lowest (narrowest) petal usually white. Buit it doesn't grow in woods as does Wood Speedwell, but rather as an agricultural weed.

Slight resemblance to : Grey-Field Speedwell (Veronica polita) but that has greyish green leaves and the flowers are dark-blue.

Distinguishing Feature : large green leaves

A native Speedwell occupying dampish woods. Distribution is scattered but locally-frequent across the UK except to the Isle of Man and Northern Scotland.


  Veronica montana  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Plantaginaceae  

Distribution
 family8Plantain family8Plantaginaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Veronica
Veronica
(Speedwells)

WOOD SPEEDWELL

Veronica montana

Plantain Family [Plantaginaceae]