Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

American Brooklime
Veronica americana
Plantain family (Plantaginaceae)

American Brookline is found in wet areas. It often occurs in large numbers, spreading from shallowly buried in the mud, and it can quickly form dense patches in slow-moving or still water. Veronica species are edible, often eaten raw like watercress. The name Veronica is derived from the Greek "phero," "I bring" and "nike," "victory," in reference to the plant's supposed healing powers. It is also believed that the Veronica recognizes St. Veronica, who is said to have given Jesus her veil to wipe his face as he carried his to Golgotha.


©2003 Dianne Fristrom

Description

Slender , 4-24" tall, with trailing stems. Foliage is smooth and hairless. , egg-shaped to broadly with fine- margins, short . Several small (5-10 ) blue-pale violet (to nearly white) saucer-shaped flowers in open arising from axils of upper leaves. Flowers comprised of 4 broad spreading , 4 , and 2 . are smooth rounded . Grows from system of shallow .

Field Marks

Slender hairless with opposite leaves, growing in moist to wet areas.

© Al Schneider

A raceme is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along its axis.

capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

Glands are plant structures that secrete liquids, salts or other substances. Glands often appear as hairs with a drop of liquid at the end.

mm -- millimeter. About 1/25th of an inch.

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

In an opposite leaf arrangement the leaves come in pairs with one leaf on each side of a stem.

cross -- To make something interbreed. The act of hybridization.

Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom.

lobe -- A rounded parts of a leaf (or other organ).

Like the teeth on a saw, leaves and other surfaces can have toothed edges.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

The anther is a pad at the end of the stamen that holds the pollen.

petiole -- the stalk of a leaf.

genus -- A subdivision of a botanical Family in which all members have a significant number of similar characteristics.

lanceolate -- Lance-shaped. Long, wider in the middle.

rhizome -- root-like stems that may either grow horizontally at the soil surface or in other orientations underground.