As everything greens up, we often receive photos of mystery plants for identification. Typically, I get a wide range of species via email or text message. This spring, more than any I can recall in recent history, I’ve received many photos of the same species: purslane speedwell (Veronica peregrina).
Purslane speedwell is an annual weed native to North America that prefers moist, disturbed soil. It shouldn’t shock me that it has apparently become more abundant in Iowa gardens, crop fields, and various waste areas after several successive seasons of cool, moist early springs.
This plant is often hairless, with leaves and a stem reminiscent of common purslane (thus, it’s common name purslane speedwell). The leaves are usually long and thin and can either be entire (smooth) around the edges or have small teeth (serration). While searching for this weed at our Field Extension Education Laboratory (FEEL) near campus, it blended in easily with all the field pennycress, shepherdspurse, and other winter annuals that are taller and bolting by now.
One surefire way to identify this as a speedwell or Veronica species is to check for small, heart-shaped seedpods that will develop on the plant in the coming weeks. Several other speedwell are fairly common to find this time of year including corn speedwell and ivy-leaved speedwell. Near Ames, this plant is just now beginning to flower, but keep an eye out for it in your area as it seems to be the weed of the spring this year!
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- Field Agronomist in Central Iowa