Veronica americana 5301045 202675770 2008-04-01T23:49:19Z Wsiegmund 382113 Deleted doubled word {{Taxobox | name = ''Veronica americana'' | image = Veronica_americana_17071.JPG|[[William O. Douglas Wilderness]] | image_width = 250px | regnum = [[Plantae]] | divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]] | classis = [[Magnoliopsida]] | ordo = [[Lamiales]] | familia = [[Plantaginaceae]] | genus = ''[[Veronica (plant)|Veronica]]'' | species = '''''V. americana''''' | binomial = ''Veronica americana'' | binomial_authority = [[Lewis David de Schweinitz|Schwein.]] ex [[George Bentham|Benth.]] }} '''''Veronica americana''''', variously called ''American brookline'' or ''American speedwell'',<ref name="PLANTS">{{cite web | title = Veronica americana Schwein. ex Benth. | work = PLANTS Profile | publisher = United States Department of Agriculture; Natural Resources Conservation Service | url = http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VEAM2 | accessdate = 2008-03-30 }}</ref> is a [[plant]] native to temperate and arctic [[Asia]] and [[North America]]<ref name="GRIN">{{cite web | title = Veronica americana Schwein. ex Benth. | work = GRIN Taxonomy for Plants | publisher = Germplasm Resources Information Network | url = http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?316860 | accessdate = 2008-03-30 }}</ref> where it grows in streams and bottomlands. It is a [[herbaceous]] [[perennial plant|perennial]] with glabrous stems 10–100 cm long that bear terminal or axillary racemes or spikes of soft violet flowers. The [[leaf|leaves]] are 1.5-8 cm long and 3 to 20 times as long as wide, short-petiolate, glabrous, serrate to almost entire.<ref name="Burke"> {{cite web|title=Veronica americana|work=WTU Herbarium Image Collection |publisher=Burke Museum, University of Washington|url=http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php?Genus=Veronica&Species=americana|accessdate=2008-03-30}}</ref> == Uses and edibility == American speedwell is edible and nutritious and is reported to have a flavor similar to [[watercress]]. Native Americans used ''Veronica'' species as an expectorant tea to alleviate bronchial congestion associated with asthma and allergies. The plant can be confused with [[Skullcap]] and other members of the mint family. Members of the mint family have square sided stems, and ''Veronica'' species have rounded stems, and are easily distinguished from skullcap.<ref>Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, Gregory L. Tilford, ISBN 0-87842-359-1</ref> ==References== <references/> {{Commons}} {{Lamiales-stub}} [[Category:Plantaginaceae]]