Thyme-leaved Speedwell - Veronica serpyllifolia

Description

Low creeping almost hairless plant with oval, usually untoothed or slightly toothed leaves. Flowers pale blue or whitish with darker, purplish blue veins. 6 to 8 mm borne in leafy terminal spikes.

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Flowers in terminal racemes (i.e a flower spike at the end of the main stem; no flower spikes in leaf axils where leaves join main stem); glabrous; leaves usually oval and entire or slightly toothed

Habitat

Waste and bare places, cultivated land and gardens.

When to see it

March to October.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Fairly common throughout Britain.

VC55 Status

Fairly common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 311 of the 617 tetrads.

In the current Checklist (Jeeves, 2011) it is listed as Native, Locally Frequent

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

© OpenStreetMap contributors

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Thyme-leaved Speedwell
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Lamiales
Family:
Plantaginaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
217
First record:
11/05/1992 (John Mousley;Steve Grover)
Last record:
08/05/2025 (Charity, Kenneth)

Total records by month

020406080100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecRecords per month

% of records within its species group

0123452016201720182019202020212022202320242025% of group records

10km squares with records

024681012201620172018201920202021202220232024202510km sq. per year

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Latest records

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Common nameScientific nameDate recordedRecorded bySite name