Florapass
English
Wall Speedwell

Wall Speedwell

Veronica arvensis

Identify the Wall Speedwell from a photo and log your finds with Florapass.

Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.

How common: Common

Alien species

Wall Speedwell is a tiny annual with short, hairy, upright stems and very small blue flowers. It is common in open, dry places and on disturbed ground. You can often spot it along field edges, in fallows and gardens, where it stays low and easily overlooked.

Did you know?

  • Its seed pods look like tiny hearts with a deep notch at the tip.
  • It can start flowering when only a few centimeters tall, so many people miss it.

About the species

Identification

Small annual 8–25 cm tall with upright to rising, hairy stems. Leaves are in pairs; lower leaves have short stalks, upper leaves sit on the stem. Leaves are small, triangular to oval, with teeth, but the very top leaves are smooth-edged. Tiny blue flowers, about 2–3 mm wide with four lobes, grow in a long, tight line along the upper stem. Afterwards it forms a flat, deeply notched, heart-shaped seed pod with bristly edges. Distinguished by its very small flowers and long dense flower line. Flowers in Finland from May to August.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

meadow

Flowering

May–Aug

About the habitat

Grows in open, dry grassland, field edges, rocky patches, and disturbed ground such as fields, fallows and gardens.

Sources

Photo: AnRo0002, CC0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20170331Veronica arvensis2.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Kasvitieteen retkeily Ahvenanmaalle - Nåtön biologinen asema, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39614

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

See also