Veronica L.
Annual or perennial herbs, sometimes woody at base, sometimes shrublets. Lvs mostly opposite, sometimes alternate in infl., simple, entire to pinnatisect. Fls in terminal or axillary racemes, or solitary and axillary. Calyx deeply 4-(5)-lobed; lobes often unequal with upper 2 smaller. Corolla rotate to campanulate; tube short and much < limb; lobes 4, moderately dissimilar, the upper largest, mostly blue, less commonly pink or white, usually with blue veins. Stamens 2, exserted, spreading. Fr. a loculicidal or, less commonly, septicidal capsule, ± laterally compressed at right angles to septum, smooth or with raised nerves or ribs. Seeds few to fairly numerous, small; wing 0.
Key
c. 200 spp., N. temperate zone, montane tropics. Naturalised spp. 16.
A number of spp. in addition to those described below are cultivated in N.Z. gardens. Most of these are prostrate or semi-prostrate perennials from the mountains of Europe. One of the commonest is V. spicata L., with a shortly creeping, almost woody rhizome and long, erect, densely packed racemes with blue, white or pink fls. In addition, 2 other spp. have been recorded wild but the records are unsubstantiated; V. fruticans Jacq. (often known as V. saxatilis Scop.) was recorded in 1872 by Armstrong and V. austriaca L. in 1958 by Healy. Both spp. are often cultivated on rock gardens and rock walls.
