Crimean speedwell

Synonyms: Veronica multifida subsp. orientalis Elenevsky

Eastern veronica (Veronica orientalis Mill.) – a species of plant in the genus Veronica of the family Plantaginaceae. The species was first described in 1797 by the German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow in «Sp. Pl., ed. 4» [Willdenow] 1(1): 70.

Occurs in Crimea (Sevastopol and up to Belogorsk in the mountainous areas of Crimea, in the Yaila) and in Western Asia (except the Arabian Peninsula). It is found on rocks and stony slopes, on forest edges, among shrubs and in clearings.

It is a perennial herbaceous plant 10-30 cm in height. Stems are shortly and curly-pubescent, less often almost glabrous, graceful, archingly ascending. Rhizome long, woody.

Leaves sessile, entire, short. Lower leaves oblong or lanceolate, base cuneate, margins serrate-dentate, sometimes entire, bright green in color.

Flowers are gathered in rather loose, short racemes located in the axils of the upper leaves, numbering 2-4, becoming one-sided when in fruit. Pedicels longer than the calyx. Calyx consists of 4-5 linear-lanceolate, blunt lobes of unequal length. Corolla flesh-colored, reddish, pale-blue or blue, larger than the calyx. Blooms abundantly.

Fruits are capsules, covered with glandular pubescence, broader than long, obcordate (inverse heart-shaped) in form, blunt, truncate and almost rounded at the apex or cuneate at the base, equal to or slightly exceeding the calyx. Seeds ovoid in shape.

Subspecies:

• Veronica orientalis subsp. carduchorum P.H.Davis ex M.A.FischVeronica orientalis subsp. carduchorum P.H.Davis ex M.A.Fisch (grows in Turkey)
• Veronica orientalis subsp. nimrodi (Richt. ex Stapf) M. A. Fisch. – synonym Veronica nimrodi Richt. ex Stapf (grows in Turkey)
• Veronica orientalis subsp. Orientalis - Veronica taurica Willd. – Crimean veronica (grows in Crimea)
• Veronica taurica subsp. bordzilowskii (Juz.) Elenevsky (Veronica bordzilowskii Juz.)

Cultivars: 'Кратер Лейк Блю' ('Crater Lake Blue')

Hardiness zone: 5a

Location: sun-loving.

Soil: not demanding as to soil. Drought-tolerant, but tolerates waterlogging.

Care: practically does not require care. After flowering the shoots are cut back. Does not require winter shelter.

Pests: gall midge Dasyneura veronicae, mites Anceria anceps.

Diseases: raspberry ring spot, mycorrhiza.

Propagation: Propagated by division of the clump, stem cuttings, and also by seeds, which should be sown in the ground in autumn.

Uses: suitable for cultivation in rock gardens, on the edges of terraces,