Corn speedwell
Common Name:
speedwell, corn
Scientific Name:
Veronica arvensis
Family:
Scrophulariaceae
Lifecycle:
Annual
Features
Winter annual broadleaf weed. Plant a trailing herbaceous plant, that begins upward growth at flowering. Plant pubescent (hairy) throughout. Lower leaves opposite becoming alternate up the stem as plant matures. Lower leaves broader with palmate leaf venation. Upper leaves begin developing at flowering are more lanceolate, with out prominent veins are tightly compact. Flowers are four-petaled, white to pink, and only a few millimeters in diameter. Flowers are produced in the axils of the tightly compact upper leaves.
Description
Common winter annual of turfgrass, landscape, and open fields throughout the southeast. Typically germinates in fall and flowers in spring, quickly dying with the onset of hot summer temperatures. Lower leaves, before flowering, are alternating, more broad with palmate venation. As the plant matures in the spring and begins flowering the upper leaves are more linear and very densely compact. Easily distinguished from other speedwells because of its very small flowers and changing leaf morphology over time.