speedwell

American  

[speed-wel] / ˈspidˌwɛl /

noun

1. any of several plants, shrubs, or small trees of the genus Veronica, of the figwort family, having opposite leaves and small flowers.

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speedwell British  

/ ˈspiːdˌwɛl /

noun

1. any of various temperate scrophulariaceous plants of the genus Veronica, such as V. officinalis ( heath speedwell ) and V. chamaedrys ( germander speedwell ), having small blue or pinkish white flowers

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Etymology

Origin of speedwell

1570–80; speed + well ¹; so called because its petals fade and fall early

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

speedwell

Autumn Joy sedum and speedwell, a purple flower that reminded me of a gnome’s hat, were still going strong.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 31, 2022

Flowering examples of germander speedwell, daffodil and chicory cast shadows and consort with the odd caterpillar or beetle, surrounded by borders of more schematic leaf motifs that nonetheless have space for some quite real-looking birds.

From New York Times ● Jun. 5, 2014

The last drops of a shower were falling, but the sun had burst through, and the sky above the thicket was cleared to the blue of speedwell flowers.

From Tatterdemalion by Galsworthy, John

Here, too, were the harebell and speedwell, fringed with the delicate frond of the maidenhair fern.

From The South Isles of Aran by Burke, Oliver J.

“O’erhung with wild woods thickening green,” and “braes” clad in brackens, among which wild flowers were growing—the sweet-scented hyacinth, the white or pink crane’s-bill, the little pimpernel, and the azure speedwell.

From The Cruise of the Land-Yacht "Wanderer" Thirteen Hundred Miles in my Caravan by Stables, Gordon