American Alpine Speedwell (Veronica wormskjoldii)

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Veronica wormskjoldii
Secure
Secure (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Veronica
Species:
V. wormskjoldii
Binomial name
Veronica wormskjoldii
Subspecies[2]
  • V. w. subsp. alterniflora
  • V. w. subsp. wormskjoldii
Synonyms[3][4]
  • Veronica mollis
  • Veronica nutans
  • Veronica villosa

Veronica wormskjoldii is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common name American alpine speedwell. It is native to much of northern and western North America, including the western United States and northern Canada, from where it grows in moist alpine habitat, such as mountain forest understory.[5][6] It has a wide subarctic distribution from Alaska to Greenland. It is named after the Danish botanist Morten de Wormskjold (1783–1845) who had studied under professor Jens Wilken Hornemann (1770–1841) and had reportedly collected 157 species of vascular plants during an expedition to Greenland in 1812–1813, more than doubling the then number known. The expedition was manifestly to collect specimens for the Flora Danica and was financed by Wormskjold's father, though Hornemann sponsored chancery secretary Friedrich Gustav Heiliger (c.1789-) as botanical draftsman, paid for by the royal treasury. He stayed in Nuuk and in the vicinity of Qaqortoq and was helped to collect the plant specimens by the local Greenlandic population, which Wormskiold described.

Description

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It is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing a decumbent to erect, mostly unbranched stem up to 25 to 40 centimeters (9.8 to 16 in) tall and coated in long hairs.[7] The oppositely arranged leaves are 2 to 4 centimeters (0.8 to 1.6 in) long and lack petioles. The inflorescence is a hairy, glandular raceme of flowers at the tip of the stem. Each flower has hairy, lance-shaped sepals and a blue corolla up to a centimeter wide. The fruit is a capsule around half a centimeter long which contains tiny flattened seeds.[8][9][10]

Taxonomy

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Veronica wormskjoldii was scientifically described and named in 1817 by Johann Jacob Roemer and Josef August Schultes in the first volume of their new edition of Systema Vegetabilium. It is part of the genus Veronica which is classified in the Plantaginaceae family. It has two accepted subspecies.[2]

  • Veronica wormskjoldii subsp. alterniflora – Native to western North America from Nunavut south to New Mexico[3]
  • Veronica wormskjoldii subsp. wormskjoldii – Native to eastern North America from Greenland to New Hampshire[4]

Veronica wormskjoldii has 14 synonyms of the species or one of its two subspecies.[2][3][4]

Table of Synonyms
Name Year Rank Synonym of: Notes
Veronica alpina var. alterniflora Fernald 1939 variety subsp. alterniflora ≡ hom.
Veronica alpina var. cascadensis Fernald 1939 variety subsp. alterniflora = het.
Veronica alpina var. geminiflora Fernald 1939 variety subsp. alterniflora = het.
Veronica alpina var. nutans (Bong.) Ledeb. 1847 variety subsp. alterniflora = het.
Veronica alpina var. terrae-novae Fernald 1939 variety subsp. wormskjoldii = het.
Veronica alpina var. unalaschcensis Cham. & Schltdl. 1827 variety subsp. alterniflora = het.
Veronica alpina var. wormskioldii (Roem. & Schult.) Hook. 1830 variety V. wormskjoldii ≡ hom.
Veronica alpina subsp. wormskjoldii (Roem. & Schult.) Elenevsky 1977 subspecies V. wormskjoldii ≡ hom.
Veronica mollis Raf. 1838 species subsp. alterniflora = het., nom. illeg. homonym. post.
Veronica nutans Bong. 1833 species subsp. alterniflora = het.
Veronica villosa Wormsk. ex Roem. & Schult. 1817 species subsp. wormskjoldii = het., not validly publ.
Veronica wormskjoldii f. albiflora Cody 1994 form subsp. alterniflora = het.
Veronica wormskjoldii subsp. nutans (Bong.) Albach 2019 subspecies subsp. alterniflora = het.
Veronica wormskjoldii var. nutans (Bong.) Pennell 1921 variety subsp. alterniflora = het.
Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym; = heterotypic synonym

References

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  1. ^ NatureServe (6 December 2024). "Veronica wormskjoldii". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  2. ^ a b c POWO (2026). "Veronica wormskjoldii Roem. & Schult". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  3. ^ a b c POWO (2026). "Veronica wormskjoldiisubsp. alterniflora (Fernald) Pennell". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  4. ^ a b c POWO (2026). "Veronica wormskjoldii subsp. wormskjoldii". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  5. ^ Sullivan, Steven. K. (2015). "Veronica wormskjoldii". Wildflower Search. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
  6. ^ "Veronica wormskjoldii". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture; Natural Resources Conservation Service. 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
  7. ^ Aiken; et al. "- Veronica wormskjoldii Roem. and Schult". - Veronica wormskjoldii Roem. and Schult. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  8. ^ Klinkenberg, Brian, ed. (2014). "Veronica wormskjoldii". E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Archived from the original on 2015-06-19. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
  9. ^ Giblin, David, ed. (2015). "Veronica wormskjoldii". WTU Herbarium Image Collection. Burke Museum, University of Washington. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
  10. ^ "Veronica wormskjoldii". Jepson eFlora: Taxon page. Jepson Herbarium; University of California, Berkeley. 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
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