VERONICA ACINIFOLIA
Common Names:- French speedwell
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Veronica (L) For Saint Veronica, who wiped the sweat from Christ's
face.
Acinifolia (L) Acinos-leaved, basil-thyme-leaved.
General description:- Slender, erect annual.
Stems:-
1) 5-15 cm, erect, simple or branched from the base, more or less glandular-hairy
pubescent, throughout.
Leaves:-
1) Blade, 4-12 mm, triangular-ovate, entire or crenate, subglabrous to sparsely
pubescent.
2) Lower, shortly-petiolate.
Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence, a long, lax raceme.
2) Bracts;
a) lower, leaf-like. the
b) upper, smaller and entire,
3) Pedicels, fruiting, 4-8 mm. erecto-patent, ± straight, slightly exceeding the
bracts, with short eglandular hairs and longer, usually 4-celled glanular hairs.
4) Calyx segments, ovate.
5) Corolla, 2-3 mm. rather dark blue
6) Style c. 1·5 mm, not or scarcely exceeding the sinus.
Fruit:-
1) Capsule, c. 2 x 3 mm, broadly reniform, with a deep sinus, flat, glandular-hairy.
2) Seeds, c. 0·75 x 0·5 mm, broadly elliptical,slightly convex on one face, and flat
or slightly concave on the other.
Key features:-
1) Seeds, slightly convex on one face, and flat or slightly concave on the other.
2) Bracts not exceeding the pedicels.
3) Leaves, entire or obscurely crenate.
Habitat:- Seasonally damp spots at field margins, along tracks, in macchie, open
woodland, meadows and olive groves. (0)200-1100 m.
Distribution:- Scattered throughout mainland Greece and the Peleponnisos, S. SC.
and W. Europe, eastwards to N. Anatolia. Limited distribution on Crete. Known only
from the Dikti and Psiloritis massifs and near Chania.
Flowering time:- Apr-May
Photos by:- Steve Lenton