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Garden Speedwell

Garden Speedwell

Veronica longifolia

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How common: Common

Garden Speedwell is a tall, long‑lived wildflower known for its striking blue flower clusters. It grows in open, damp places such as shores and meadows, and is also planted in gardens. The flowers are small but packed tightly into long, showy heads.

Did you know?

  • Its flower clusters can be 10–30 cm long and are packed with dozens of tiny blooms.
  • It is pollinated by insects and is popular with bees.

About the species

Identification

Upright, usually unbranched plant 30–90 cm tall. Stems smooth or slightly hairy. Leaves short‑stalked, narrow oval and toothed, arranged in pairs or in threes around the stem. At the top, a very long, tight cluster of many small blue (rarely white) four‑lobed flowers, about 6–8 mm across. Fruits are small smooth seed pods. Compared with Spiked Speedwell, it is taller, with longer leaves and a longer, denser flower cluster. Flowers in Finland in July–August.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

shore

Flowering

Jul–Aug

About the habitat

Found on seashore meadows and rocky shores, along lakes and rivers, on damp meadows and open woodland edges; also along roadsides and other grassy, disturbed places. Across Finland; common in the south and north, scarcer in some central inland areas.

Sources

Photo: Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Veronica longifolia Przetacznik długolistny 2020-07-12 03.jpg

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Sisävedet: rantaniityt, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39624

Text: Pinkka: IPS-153 Flora of Subarctic Europe - Tanacetum-Viscaria, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39624

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rantat%C3%A4dyke

See also