Veronica catenata

Chain speedwell

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Chain speedwell is a California native perennial found in the Central California Floristic Province and North Coast Ranges in wet meadows and slow streams at elevations below 2,500 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces delicate pink flowers in small clusters about 3 to 5 millimeters long. Growing with ascending to erect stems 10 to 60 centimeters tall that root at the lower nodes, it spreads through underground rhizomes. Its lance-shaped leaves are dark green, clasping at the base, 25 to 90 millimeters long, and arranged alternately along the stem. The fruit is a small, notched structure 3 to 4 millimeters wide, characteristic of the speedwell genus.

Habitat: Wet meadows, slow streams

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: < 2500 m

Bioregions: CA-FP, MP

California counties: Lassen, San Luis Obispo, Tulare, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Monterey, Butte, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Napa, Colusa, Riverside, Inyo, Siskiyou, Shasta, Tehama, Modoc, Plumas, Alameda, Ventura, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Sacramento

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.