For Saint Veronica, said to have given Jesus a cloth to wipe his face on the way to Calvary, and named because of a supposed resemblence between markings on some Veronica species and her sacred handkerchief
Slender speedwell is a native of Turkey and the Caucasus, and it has now become naturalized in
parts of Europe and North America.
It appears to be rather underappreciated on the web, even though it has
cool chemicals in it,[1] in part because it has a habit of out-competing grass in lawns ... like mine. There is some evidence that some of these chemicals are natural pesticides, clearing the way for
the spread of the speedwell. I found more articles on getting rid of it than I did describing it. Personally,
though, I like it better than I like the lawn.
Identification: Slender speedwell generally keeps a low profile,
low enough to escape the mower blades. It produces large numbers of blue-violet flowers ¼-½″ (6.3-12 mm)
across. Flowers have four petals, dark blue-violet stripes, and yellow-white centers.