''Veronica officinalis'', the heath speedwell, common gypsyweed, common speedwell, or Paul's betony, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the plantain family

Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family or veronica family, is a large, diverse family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as Antirrhinum, snapdragon and Digitalis, foxglove. It is unrelated ...

. It is native to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and western

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. It has been introduced to North America and is widely

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

there.

Description

It is a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

with hairy green stems long that cover the ground in mats and send up short vertical shoots which bear soft violet flowers. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are and broad, and softly hairy. It flowers from May until August.

Cultivation and uses

This speedwell grows in open areas, such as fields, meadows and gardens, where it is sometimes grown as an edible, or

medicinal herb Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against h ...

. The slightly bitter and astringent taste and tea-like smell of speedwell led to its use as a tea substitute in 19th-century France, where it was called ''thé d'Europe'', or "Europe tea". The French still use this term as a name for speedwell.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q156402 Medicinal plants

officinalis ''Officinalis'', ''officinale'', or occasionally ''officinarum'' is a Medieval Latin epithet denoting organisms—mainly plants—with uses in medicine, herbalism, manufacturing, and cookery. It commonly occurs as a specific epithet, the second t ...

Flora of Europe Flora of the Caucasus Flora of Western Asia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Description

Cultivation and uses

Further reading

References

External links