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Veronica chamaedrys

Common name:	Germander Speedwell	Family:	Scrophulariaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to Spain, north and western Asia.
Habitat:	A common plant of grassland, woods, hedges etc[1, 13, 17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Bird's Eye Speedwell [S], Bird's-eye [L], Birdseye Speedwell [S], Germander Speedwell [H,L,B,P], Gewone Ereprijs [D], Speedwell [E], Speedwell, Birdseye [S],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	chamaedrys = germander;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Scrophulariales. Figwort family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Europe

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.5m. It is hardy to zone 3 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from March to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Meadow, Lawn, Hedgerow, Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge.

Edible Uses

Leaves; Tea.

The leaves are a tea substitute[177, 183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Blood purifier; Skin; Vulnerary.

The herb is a blood purifier and vulnerary[4]. It is applied externally to skin diseases and is said to be an efficacious treatment for the itch[4]. Internally, an infusion of the leaves once had a good reputation in the treatment of coughs, asthma, catarrh etc[4].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Easily grown in a moderately fertile moisture retentive well drained soil[200]. Prefers cool summers[200].
A good bee plant[24].
A common garden weed, it grows well in a lawn[200] and can be grown in the spring meadow[24]. It is also a good plant for the flower border[1].

Propagation

Seed - sow autumn in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.
If you have sufficient quantity, the seed can be sown in situ in the autumn or the spring.
Division in autumn or spring. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found that it is best to pot up smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a greenhouse or cold frame until they are growing away well. Plant them out in the summer or the following spring.

Cultivars

'': There are some named forms for this species, but these have been developed for their ornamental value and not for their other uses. Unless you particularly require the special characteristics of any of these cultivars, we would generally recommend that you grow the natural species for its useful properties. We have, therefore, not listed the cultivars in this database[K].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for veronica chamaedrys (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Scrophulariaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[24] Baines. C. Making a Wildlife Garden.
Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Veronica+chamaedrys
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Veronica+chamaedrys

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.