Plantaginaceae
Veronica

Veronica abyssinica Fresen.

First published in Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) 2: 356 (1844)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Nigeria to Somalia and S. Tropical Africa. It is an annual or subshrub and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Scrophulariaceae, D. Philcox. Flora Zambesiaca 8:2. 1990

Morphology General Habit
Annual, prostrate herb, trailing or ascending, branched from or towards base; branches up to 7.5 cm. long or occasionally much more, of ten rooting at nodes, more or less densely pilose with long, white hairs; stem hollow, sometimes becoming somewhat woody.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves opposite, petiolate, lamina 15–45 x 10–36 mm., broadly ovate to ovate-elliptic, obtuse to subacute, shallowly cordate to subtruncate at base, at rimes subcuneate, shallowly to coarsely crenate-serrate; petiole 4–20 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes axillary, 1–7.5 cm. long, 2–7-flowered; flowers blue, bracteate; bracts 3–4 mm. long, 0.5–1.3 mm. wide, linear-oblong, obtuse.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pedicel
Pedicels (2)6–10(15) mm. long, slender.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 3.5–4.75 mm. long; lobes 1–2 mm. long, oblong to spatulate-oblong, obtuse, long-ciliate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla 6–7 mm. long, upper lobe to 4 mm. wide, broadly ovate to subcircular.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule 3.5–4 x (3.5)4(5) mm., obcordate in outline, compressed, long pilose, or only ciliate on suture.
[FZ]

Scrophulariaceae, F. N. Hepper. Flora of West Tropical Africa 2. 1963

Morphology General Habit
Prostrate herb, creeping, branched from the base
Morphology General Indumentum
More or less pilose
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers blue or pinkish
Ecology
In montane grassland and scrub beside small streams.
[FWTA]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Scrophulariaceae, S.A. Ghazanfar, F.N. Hepper & D. Philcox. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2008

Type
Type: Ethiopia, Simien, Rüppell s.n. (FR, holo.)
Morphology General Habit
Trailing perennial herb with prostrate stems up to 80(–150) cm, rooting at the nodes, sometimes profusely branched, sparsely to rather densely pubescent in two lines
Morphology Leaves
Leaves broadly ovate, 1–5 cm long, 0.5–3.5 cm wide, rounded to subcordate at base, subacute to obtuse, margins rather coarsely crenate, pilose to subglabrous on both sides; petioles 4–9(–18) mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence of lateral racemes, 2–5 cm long, 2–4(–8)-flowered; bracts linear, 4 mm long; pedicels filiform, ± 5 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 4–5 mm long in flower, 6–7 mm long in fruit; segments elliptic-oblong, ciliate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla blue; tube white; lobes ± 6 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Filaments
Filaments white.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Anthers
Anthers yellow
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule broadly obovate, emarginate, compressed, pilose to nearly glabrous
Figures
Fig 30, 5–8, p 103
Ecology
Montane forest, stream banks, bushy grassland; 1200–3100 m (–3900 m fide
Conservation
Least Concern (LC)
Note
Robust forms with larger, deep blue flowers occur in Tanzania ( T 7) at the edge of the Kitulo Plateau, Njombe District ( Hepper & Field 5345) and at some other places.
Distribution
Range: Extending to the mountains of Cameroon, Congo-Kinshasa, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Ethiopia, Malawi Flora districts: U1 U2 U3 U4 K2 K3 K4 K5 K6 K7 T1 T2 T3 T6 T7 T8
[FTEA]

Uses

Use
None recorded on specimens from our area
[FTEA]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0