Veronica cusickii
Encyclopedia
Veronica cusickii is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family
known by the common name Cusick's speedwell. It is native to western North America from British Columbia
to Montana
to northern California
, where it is occurs in mountain meadows and forests. It is a rhizomatous
perennial herb producing a hairy, glandular, erect or upright stem up to 15 or 20 centimeters tall. The oval leaves are oppositely arranged in pairs about the stem, each blade measuring up to 2.5 centimeters in length. The inflorescence
is a terminal raceme
of flowers borne on hairy, glandular pedicels
. Each flower has dark, hairy sepal
s and a flat corolla about a centimeter wide or slightly wider. The flower corolla has four deep blue-purple lobes with whitish bases, the top lobe being largest since it is actually a fusion of two lobes. At the center are two long, protruding stamen
s.
Plantaginaceae
Plantaginaceae Juss. or plantain family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. The type genus is Plantago L..In older classifications it used to be the only family of the order Plantaginales, but numerous phylogenetic studies, summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, have...
known by the common name Cusick's speedwell. It is native to western North America from British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
to Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
to northern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it is occurs in mountain meadows and forests. It is a rhizomatous
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
perennial herb producing a hairy, glandular, erect or upright stem up to 15 or 20 centimeters tall. The oval leaves are oppositely arranged in pairs about the stem, each blade measuring up to 2.5 centimeters in length. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a terminal raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
of flowers borne on hairy, glandular pedicels
Pedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....
. Each flower has dark, hairy sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s and a flat corolla about a centimeter wide or slightly wider. The flower corolla has four deep blue-purple lobes with whitish bases, the top lobe being largest since it is actually a fusion of two lobes. At the center are two long, protruding stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s.