Ivy-leaved Speedwell

Ivy-leaved Speedwell - Veronica hederifolia

Description

A low sprawling hairy plant, stems branched at the base. Leaves kidney shaped with 3 to 7 lobes, the end lobe being the largest, 3 veined, all but the lowermost alternate. Flowers pale lilac or pale blue, 4 to 9 mm solitary. Capsule rounded and slightly notched. There are two common sub species of Ivy-leaved Speedwell, they are the blue flowered form - Veronica hederifolia sub species hederifolia which has pale blue flowers with blue anthers and a lilac flowered form - Veronica hederifolia sub species lucorum which has whitish to pale lilac flowers with whitish or pale blue anthers.

Similar Species

other speedwells

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

The 2 subspecies cannot always be identified (intermediate forms occur).

Recording advice

This is difficult to identify with confidence from a close-up photo of the flowers.  

Habitat

Cultivated land, pathways, roadside verges and walls.

When to see it

March to August.

Life History

Annual.

UK Status

Common throughout Britain.

VC55 Status

Common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 331 of the 617 tetrads.

In the current Checklist (Jeeves, 2011) it is listed as Alien (archaeophyte), locally frequent; the distribution of the two subspecies is given as 'uncertain'.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records

Photo of the association

Sorosphaerula veronicae

Sorosphaerula veronicae causes galls on various species of Speedwell (Veronica sp.). The gall takes the form of a large (up to 4 mm thick) swelling of the stems (mainly lower down), also veins and petioles; inside is a reddish-brown mass of spores.