Veronica serpyllifolia (Thyme-Leaved Speedwell) - photos and description
Looking straight down on a plant
Lower leaves have petioles
Origin: Native.
General: Small plants with a decumbent growth habit, rhizomatous. Stems with fine hairs.
Flowers: The flowers are pale purple-blue and grow in leafy racemes. Flowers measured at 7 mm diameter.
Leaves: Leaves opposite. Upper leaves ovate, sessile. Lower leaves more or less orbicular and having petioles. Bottom of leaves with fine hairs, top of leaves are glabrous.
Height: Budd's Flora lists the height to 20 cm. I've measured plants to 9 cm tall.
Habitat: Marshy ground and swamps in the Cypress Hills.
Abundance: Provincially this plant is extremely rare, listed as an S1 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre. The plant is fairly common in the Cypress Hills.
When and where photographed: Took the above photos May 19th wet ground near a spring, and June 4th in a grassy beaver swamp, Cypress Hills, 450 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.