General:
Perennial amphibious herb from a shallow creeping rhizome, smooth throughout or sometimes fine-hairy; stems decumbent to ascending, 10-40 cm long/tall, rooting at the lower nodes, simple to much-branched at the base, somewhat fleshy, often purple-tinged.

Leaves:
Opposite, unstalked, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2-4 (8) cm long, 4-20 times as long as wide, entire or remotely few-toothed, often purple-tinged.

Flowers:
Inflorescences several long, open, lax, stalked racemes arising from the axils of upper leaves, the racemes of 5 to 20 stalked flowers, the thread-like flower stalks spreading at maturity, 6-17 mm long, much longer than the reduced, linear bracts; corollas blue or white with purple lines, saucer-shaped, 6-10 mm across, irregularly 4-lobed, the lobes much longer than the short tube, the lowest lobe narrower than the others; calyces about 3 mm long, deeply 4-lobed, the lobes more or less equal, egg-shaped; styles 2-4 mm long, exserted; stamens 2.

Fruits:
Capsules, 2.5-4 mm long, distinctly wider than long, flattened, broadly notched at the tip; seeds 5 to 9 per chamber, 1.2-1.8 mm long.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Veronica scutellata var. villosa Schumach.