Wildflower - Bird's-eye Speedwell

The more I analyze what's growing in and around my lawn, the more varieties of small, dark blue wildflower (weeds) I identify. This time the wildflower is Bird's-eye Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys), also known as germander speedwell.




Bird's-eye Speedwell is native to Europe and is invasive, carpeting an entire area. Bird's-eye Speedwell is a hardy turf weed when it invades lawns. It creeps along the ground, spreading by sending down roots at the stem nodes. It is propagated both by seed and stem fragments.



The dark blue flowers of Bird's-eye Speedwell are less than 1/2 inch across, but it makes up for its small size with large numbers of blooms. For a size comparison, the flowers are so small that the small white dots on the flower petals in this photograph are grains of pollen from the flower.