Veronica filiformis Slender Speedwell

A rather slender, prostrate, mat-forming, perennial speedwell which grows in lawns and amenity grasslands in parks and urban areas, particularly those that are mown and kept reasonably short. Its mauve-blue flowers are produced on long thin stalks from hairy stems that bear small, kidney-shaped leaves. It is native to the Caucasus and was introduced to Britain as a garden plant in the early 19th Century and first found naturalised in 1927 in Scotland. It has spread rapidly in the last 100 years and is now widespread and common throughout Scotland, England and Wales. It appears to have a patchy, lowland distribution in West Glamorgan, occuring most often in large parks and frequently mown verges. It may be under recorded, but its apparent absence from much of the upland areas in the South Wales Coalfield is probably genuine.

Neophyte