Richard Torrens Aquatic life

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Veronica Anagallis-aquatica

Walking along the banks of a small chalk stream near Burwell, Cambs., one day in spring, I spied a strange water plant - one I did not recognise. So I extracted a sample: it looked like the immerse form of some land plant. Now land plants that will survive under water for a time are well known in the aquarium trade - many 'aquarium plants' sold by the trade are actually land plants that will die if kept under water for too long. So the aquarist buys more plants - this trade, too, has become a throw-away culture! And yes, I am trying some of this as an aquarium plant: it's probable that (like most other temperate plants) it requires too much light to be useful in the aquarium.

But this plant was growing in dense drifts in the stream (photo 1), clearly happy as a water plant. I could not identify it from the various books I have on water plants. But it did look a bit like a willow-herb (epilobium) which is common in the locality. At first I thought it looked like an epilobium (willow herb) but google gave no clues and no pictures of any submerged foliage - though rhizomes of Epllobium hirsutum growing immerse were a frequent hit!

So the only way to identify it was to extracti piece and cultivate it, which I duely did. It turned out not to be an Epilobium - but water speedwell - Veronica Anagallis-aquatica.

Water speedwell is edible though in my opinion it has nothing in particular to recommend it. However it is more pleasant tasting than its near cousin, Veronica beccabunga (Brooklime) which is more widely known as a food plant. It is however medicinally beneficial. It is shown in more detail in the Food For Free site.

Submerged Veronica Anagallis-aquatica

Emergent epliobium hirsutum

Detail of immerse form of Veronica Anagallis-aquatica

Immerse foliage of Veronica Anagallis-aquatica

The photos

1. A dense bed of Veronica Anagallis-aquatica growing totally submerged as a water plant
2. Another bed, the shoots are starting to emerge.
3. Detail of the plant. Note the roots and side shoots from almost every node. These copious side shoots are the reason the plant forms such a dense mat under water.
4. Foliage on the plant growing immerse.

Veronica Anagallis-aquatica (Water Speedwell) as an aquarium plant

As stated above, I planted a piece of Veronica Anagallis-aquatica in the aquarium. It could be a pretty plant for such. However, within a week, at the bottom of a densely planted tank, some 20 inches deep, the main stem had rotted and all of the side branches, with rootlets, were floating at the surface and looking green and healthy. So it does need good light in an aquarium.

It is another example of a water plant propagation method I have noticed before.

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