• Scientific Name: Veronica polita Fr.
• Ref: Novit. Fl. Svec.:63. 1819
• Synonyms:
  • Cardia didyma (Ten.) Dulac
  • Pocilla polita (Fr.) Fourr.
  • Veronica colocensis Menyh.
  • V. didyma Ten.
  • V. nitidula Rchb. ex Walp.
  • V. thellungiana Dalla Torre & Sarnth.
• English Common Name: grey field-speedwell
• Chinese Common Name: 婆婆纳 pópo∙nà
• Japanese Common Name: イヌノフグリ [犬の陰嚢] inunofuguri
• Family: Plantaginaceae
• Genus: Veronica
• Distribution: Naturalized in waste fields; below 2200 m. Anhui, Beijing Shi, Fujian, Gansu, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [native in SW Asia and naturalized over most of the world].

Annuals. Stems diffuse, 10-30 cm, sparsely pubescent. Leaves opposite, 1-3 pairs; petiole 1-5 mm; leaf blade ovate to suborbicular, 5-11 X 4-9 mm, abaxially whitish hairy, adaxially sparsely pubescent to subglabrous, margin revolute with 2-4 deeply incised teeth per side. Racemes terminal, lax, very long; bracts alternate, sometimes basally opposite, petiolate, leaflike. Pedicel in fruit (3-)6-13(-15) mm, equalling bract or slightly shorter, recurved. Calyx 4-lobed; lobes elliptic to ovate, slightly dilated in fruit, 4-6 X 2.5-4 mm, sparsely puberulent, veins 3(-5). Corolla usually blue, rarely white, rotate, 4-7 mm in diam.; lobes orbicular to ovate. Stamens shorter than corolla. Capsule reniform, 3-4 X 4-6 mm, very slightly compressed, apically notched at an acute angle; lobes rounded, densely glandular pubescent, mixed with shorter eglandular hairs, veins inconspicuous. Style usually 1-1.6 mm, about as high as notch to slightly exserted. Seeds strongly navicular, elliptic, usually 0.9-1.6 X 0.8-1.3 mm; seed coat transversely rugose on dorsal side. Fl. Mar-Oct. 2n = 14. (Flora of China)