Veronica catenata

{{Speciesbox

|image=Veronica catenata sl47.jpg

|image_caption=In Austria

|status = LC

|status_system = IUCN3.1

|status_ref = {{Cite IUCN |last1=Lansdown|first1=R.V.|date=2014 |title=Veronica catenata (Pink Water-Speedwell)|page=e.T164419A42409596 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T164419A42409596.en|access-date=24 December 2024}}

|genus=Veronica

|species=catenata

|authority=Pennell

}}

Veronica catenata, the pink water speedwell, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. It is native to Canada, the United States, Europe, the Azores, and northern Africa.{{cite web |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:264716-2 |title=Veronica catenata Pennell |author= |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=10 October 2021 }}{{cite web |title=Veronica catenata pink water speedwell |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/161810/i-veronica-catenata-i/details |date=2021 |publisher=The Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=10 October 2021 }} As its common name implies, it prefers growing in or near marshes, rivers, lakes and ponds.{{cite journal |title=Interstitial water patterns: A factor influencing the distributions of some lotic aquatic vascular macrophytes |year=1988 |last1=Fortner |first1=Sharon L. |last2=White |first2=David S. |journal=Aquatic Botany |volume=31 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.1016/0304-3770(88)90035-6 |bibcode=1988AqBot..31....1F |hdl=2027.42/27221 |hdl-access=free }}

Description

A perennial branching herbaceous plant with erect and creeping stems, the latter rooting freely at the nodes. It grows to about 30 cm tall with green to purplish stems, usually glabrous but sometimes hairy. Plants occur on bare ground around ponds and in wetland areas, after the water has receded, or in open (usually still) water. Underwater plants are brownish in colour and have a different appearance to the terrestrial plants.{{cite book |last1=Sell |first1=Peter |last2=Murrell |first2=Gina |title=Flora of Great Britain and Ireland, vol 3 |date=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge}}

File:Veronica_catenata_aquatic_stem.jpg

The leaves are opposite and decussate (arranged alternately at right-angles), and semi-amplexicaul (clasping the stem at their bases). Leaves can vary greatly in size, from 1 to 15 cm in length and 0.3 - 3 cm in width. Aerial leaves are dark green above and paler beneath, and more-or-less lanceolate in shape, narrowing gradually from a wide base to a pointed tip. They are entire or slightly serrated towards the tip.{{cite book |last1=Stace |first1=C.A. |title=New Flora of the British Isles |date=2019 |location=Suffolk |isbn=978-1-5272-2630-2}}

File:Veronica catenata lower leaf.jpg

The inflorescences arise from the leaf bases, usually in opposite pairs. Each one can have up to 50 flowers on short (5 mm) pedicels, which are typically shorter than the bracts that subtend them. The flowers are up to 10 mm in diameter, bisexual, with 4 pink corolla lobes (petals) with deeper pink lines, and 4 green calyx lobes (sepals). There are 2 stamens with blueish anthers and 1 style with a round stigma.

The fruits are heart-shaped capsules, 2-3 mm across, which open into 4 valves containing numerous pale brown seeds that are flat on one side, rounded on the other.

File:Veronica catenata sl38.jpg

Photographic examples can be seen on [https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/79496/browse_photos?quality_grade=research iNaturalist].

Similar species include Veronica anagallis-aquatica (with purply-blue flowers), Veronica anagalloides (with elliptic fruits), Veronica × lackschewitzii (fruits fail to form, frequently very large plants) and also Veronica scardica and Veronica beccabunga.