''Veronica polita'', the grey field-speedwell 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

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 ...

(Plantain) family. It is native to Europe, southwestern Asia, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and a few nearby countries, and has been introduced to many countries worldwide particularly as a weed of cultivation.

Description

A sprawling, blue-flowered

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), a ...

speedwell, with somewhat dull green, toothed leaves, broadest at the base. The flowers are smallish (4-8(12) mm diam), usually bold blue (though sometimes with a whitened lowermost part), and grow solitary on stalks emerging from the stem at the leaf stalk, the longest ones not clearly exceeding the leaves; they mature to form a fruit capsule whose two lobes are parallel, clothed with long and short hairs. The lower leaves are non-elongated in appearance, whilst the upper leaves are elongated. Similar species include

Veronica agrestis ''Veronica agrestis'', the green field-speedwell is a species of flowering plant in the Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family or veronica family, is a large, diverse family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Lam ...

(with fruit lacking short hairs, and leaves fresh green, the lowermost elongated) and Veronica persica (with flower stalks often much longer than the leaves, and the lobes of the fruit diverging like a 'V'). Variants - P D Sell distinguishes var. polita with flowers 5–8 mm diameter, and var. grandiflora flowers 8–12 mm diam.

Distribution and Habitat

Native to Europe, southwestern Asia, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and a few close by countries, introduced to many countries. Its habitat in Europe is cultivated ground. Its habitat in Turkey is bare soil in open forests, steppe, cultivated land, roadsides, 0–1800 m. Its habitat in North America is fields, ruderal places, calcareous soils, lawns, 0–600 m.Flora of North America
/ref>

Diseases

It is susceptible to downy mildew disease caused by the oomycete species '' Peronospora agrestis''.

References

polita Flora of Europe Flora of the Canary Islands Flora of North Africa Flora of temperate Asia Flora of Lebanon {{Plantaginaceae-stub

Description

Distribution and Habitat

Diseases

Further reading

References