Corn Speedwell

Corn speedwell (Veronica arvensis) is a small annual weed native to Europe and Asia and now naturalized across North America and other temperate regions. It is a winter annual, germinating in fall, overwintering as a small plant, and flowering in late winter and spring.

The plant is low, hairy, and inconspicuous except for its tiny but pretty deep-blue flowers. It thrives in thin lawns, gardens, and disturbed ground, often forming low patches before most other plants are active.

While a common weed, it is small, shallow-rooted, and easy to remove, and it provides early-season nectar for small pollinators.

Look for a small, hairy, low plant with rounded toothed leaves and tiny blue flowers.

• Flowers: Very small (about 1/8 inch), four-lobed, deep blue, borne singly in upper leaf axils
• Leaves: Lower leaves rounded with scalloped or toothed edges; upper leaves narrower and unstalked
• Habit: Low, erect to spreading, usually 2-10 inches tall, hairy throughout
• Seed pods: Tiny, flattened, heart-shaped capsules
• Seasonality: Active and flowering in late winter to spring as a winter annual

Managed as an easy-to-remove lawn and garden weed.

• Control: Hand-pull or hoe; its shallow roots release easily
• Cultural: Maintain dense, vigorous turf to crowd it out; it favors thin lawns
• Timing: Remove in late winter or early spring before it sets seed
• It grows in sun to part shade in most soils and needs no care to persist
• Pre-emergent herbicides in fall can reduce germination in lawns

Native to Europe and western Asia, corn speedwell has naturalized throughout North America and other temperate parts of the world.

It grows in disturbed, open ground: lawns, gardens, fields, roadsides, sidewalk cracks, and waste places. It favors thin turf and bare, dry soils and is among the first weeds to flower in spring.