Scientific Family
Scrophulariaceae
Synonyms
Pocilla polita, Veronica didyma
Other common names
gray speedwell
wayside speedwell
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Introduced
Lifecycle
Annual
Similar species
Veronica agrestis, V. hederifolia, V. opaca, V. persica, V. serpyllifolia
Height
To nearly 1 foot
Riparian
No
Sprawling, mat-forming annual with rounded, hairy and slightly fleshy stems. Oval-shaped leaves are coarsely rounded or pointed. Small, blue, saucer-shaped flowers with darker veins and white centers grow along the sides or top of the flower stalk.
Annual, rhizomes, stems to 12 inches, creep at base; herbage with spreading hairs to smooth; leaves longer than broad, with 7 to 15 rounded teeth; flowers in upper axils of leaves, up to 1/4 inch wide; fruit capsules broadly rounded at tip, notched.
Habitat
Disturbed areas with chalky soils including roadsides, cultivated fields, waste areas and along railroad tracks. Also found on lawns, meadows and gardens.
Plant Community
Interior Chaparral
Disturbed Areas
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
0
High elevation
3100
Flower Characteristics
Flower about 1/4 inch, 4 blue petals, white throat. Petals overlap at their base and have an egg-like shape with tapering tips. Flowers can be solitary in the leaf axils (between leaf and stem) or may grow in an open elongated cluster at the stem tops.
Flower color
Blue
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
Yes
First bloom month
June
Last bloom month
September
Flower clusters
Other
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Stems and leaves are often hairy and slightly fleshy. Lower leaves are opposite along the stem with short stalks. Upper leaves are often alternate along the stem and nearly stalkless. Leaves are longer than wide, each 1/3 inch long and 1/4 inch wide.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Green
Leaf shape
Round or oval
Leaf margin
Toothed
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Fruit is 1/16 to 1/4 inch long, dry, flat, wider than long, broadly heart shaped with 2 lobes each having several tiny seeds. Fruit's surface is moderately to densely hairy having both longer, sticky, glandular and shorter non-glandular hairs.
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit color
Yellowish-brown to brown
The fruit splits open when ripe to release the wrinkled, cup-shaped, flattened, tan to yellowish-brown seeds which are nearly 1/16 inch long. Usually, there are 6 to 12 seeds in each chamber of the fruit's lobes.