Veronica scutellata L.

Rhizomatous perennial, glabrous throughout, or occasionally hairy; stems erect or ascending, 1–4 dm; lvs all opposite, sessile, linear to lanceolate, 2–8 cm × 2–15 mm, (3–)4–20 times as long as wide, entire or with a few remote, divergent, slender small teeth; racemes axillary, pedunculate, mostly 5–20-fld, the pedicels becoming 6–17 mm; cor bluish, 6–10 mm wide; fr flattened, 2.5–4 mm, evidently wider than high, conspicuously and rather broadly notched; style 2–4 mm; seeds 5–9 per locule, 1.2–1.8 mm; 2n=18. Swamps and bogs; Eurasia and the n. two-thirds of the temperate zone in N. Amer., blanketing our range. May–Sept.

It is a temperate plant. It grows in ponds and wet places. It is often on acid soils. It needs a sunny position. In Argentina it grows below 500 m above sea level. It is hardy to zone 6. Tasmania Herbarium.

The leaves are eaten raw or cooked. They are bitter.

Plants can be grown from seeds or by division.