Veronica beccabunga L.

Perennial, glabrous herb, hydrophyte (helophyte); stems decumbent or ascending, often rooting at basal nodes, fleshy. Leaves up to 40 mm long, round, widely ovate or oblong, obtuse, petiolate, ± entire to somewhat crenate or serrate, thick. Flowers in opposite, axillary racemes, much longer than leaves at their base. Calyx: lobes 4, oblong-lanceolate, acute, ± bent down in fruit. Corolla: tube 5-7 mm long, but much wider. Fruit a subspherical capsule, breaking into 4 valves.

In streams, ditches, ponds and wet places in meadows, in acid or alkaline soils. On banks of rivers, irrigation canals, lakes, in marshes, damp places, distributed in mountains up to the alpine zone..

The tender leaves and shoots are cooked as a vegetable. The young leaves are also used in salads. They are finely chopped and mixed with chives in bread and butter sandwiches. They are used in soup. The leaves are used in tea mixtures.

Plants are grown from cuttings which include nodes. They can also be grown from seed.