Veronica hederifolia
Encyclopedia
Veronica hederifolia is a flowering plant
belonging to the family Plantaginaceae
. It is native to Eurasia and it is present in other places as an introduced species
and a common weed
. It is an annual herb growing from a taproot
and producing a hairy, spreading stem up to about 60 centimeters long. The stem is lined with rounded leaves with blades which are divided shallowly into 3 to 5 lobes and borne on petioles
. Solitary blue flowers occur in leaf axils, each with a corolla up to a centimeter wide.
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
belonging to the family Plantaginaceae
Plantaginaceae
Plantaginaceae Juss. or plantain family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. The type genus is Plantago L..In older classifications it used to be the only family of the order Plantaginales, but numerous phylogenetic studies, summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, have...
. It is native to Eurasia and it is present in other places as an introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
and a common weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
. It is an annual herb growing from a taproot
Taproot
A taproot is an enlarged, somewhat straight to tapering plant root that grows vertically downward. It forms a center from which other roots sprout laterally.Plants with taproots are difficult to transplant...
and producing a hairy, spreading stem up to about 60 centimeters long. The stem is lined with rounded leaves with blades which are divided shallowly into 3 to 5 lobes and borne on petioles
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
. Solitary blue flowers occur in leaf axils, each with a corolla up to a centimeter wide.