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Key to families | Table of families and genera    Annual,
perennial herb. Stem: erect or prostrate. Leaf: cauline,
opposite, sessile to short-petioled. Inflorescence: raceme,
terminal or axillary, or flowers 1 in axils; bracts small,
alternate. Flower: sepals generally 4(5), ± free, generally
unequal; corolla ± radial, ± rotate, generally 4-lobed, tube <<
lobes, upper lobe wide (perhaps formed by fusion of upper pair),
blue or violet to white; stamens 2, exserted; stigma unlobed.
Fruit: flattened perpendicular to septum, generally obcordate,
loculicidal and septicidal. ± 250 species: northern temperate,
especially Eurasia. (Named for Saint Veronica) Veronica
beccabunga L., Veronica chamaedrys L. not in California;
Veronica filiformis Sm., Veronica hederifolia L. occasionally as
lawn weeds. Plants from Modoc Plateau resembling Veronica
persica reported as Veronica biloba L. (bracts < leaves, style <
1 mm). Unabridged references: [Albach et al. 20