Family

Figwort.

Colour

Light blue.

Odour

Scentless.

Range

General.

Time of Bloom

July.

Flowers: small; growing in axillary, spike-like racemes. Calyx: four-parted. Corolla: wheel-shaped; with four lobes. Stamens: two. Pistil: one. Leaves: opposite; on short petioles; obovate; toothed; hairy or smooth. Stem: prostrate.

This dear little speedwell is a variable plant, sometimes downy and sometimes smooth; but with enough clearly defined traits to make it always recognisable.

In olden times its leaves were made into a popular beverage, something like tea, and for which it is said to have been a very good and wholesome substitute.

V. serpyllifolia, thyme-leaved speedwell, is another variety that is fond of the roadsides. The corolla is very pale, striped with a darker blue, and the leaves are more rounded in outline than those of V. officinalis.