Veronica persica

Persian speedwell, Persian Speedwell

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Persian speedwell is a naturalized annual found in California's Central Valley, Coastal Ranges, and desert southern regions in wet, disturbed areas and fields at elevations below 1,100 meters. Flowering from February to May, this plant produces blue flowers with purple lines and a white center, approximately 8 to 12 millimeters wide. Growing with prostrate stems 5 to 60 centimeters long, it spreads across the ground with simple or branched hairy stems. Its short-petioled leaves are ovate, 5 to 25 millimeters long, with crenate to serrate edges and acute to obtuse tips. Fruits are distinctively wider than long, with spreading lobes and tiny seeds that are roughly 2 millimeters in size.

Habitat: Wet, disturbed areas, fields

Bloom period: Feb-May

Elevation: < 1100 m

Bioregions: CA-FP, DSon (uncommon)

California counties: Los Angeles, Tulare, Sonoma, Placer, Alameda, Trinity, San Mateo, Kern, Santa Clara, San Bernardino, Siskiyou, Riverside, Fresno, San Diego, Mariposa, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San Joaquin, Yolo, San Luis Obispo, El Dorado, Lake, Amador, Calaveras, Sacramento, San Francisco, Modoc, Marin, Solano, Butte, Madera, Tehama, Colusa, Mendocino, San Benito, Ventura, Del Norte, Humboldt, Monterey, Contra Costa, Napa, Tuolumne, Nevada, Merced, Stanislaus, Yuba, Orange

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