Veronica beccabunga - Brooklime

Brooklime

Veronica beccabunga is a succulent herb belonging to the family Plantaginaceae. It grows on the margins of brooks and ditches in Europe, North Africa and north and western Asia. It can be found on other continents as an introduced species.

Uses

Scurvy, Impurity of the blood, Burns, Ulcer, Whitlows, Blotches, Pimples, Diarrhea, Sore throats

Parts Used

Leaves.

Chemical Composition

Fresh juice and extract from the herb to contain a bitter principle soluble in water and alcohol, but scarcely in ether; precipitable by salts of lead, but not by tannin; an acrid principle and a red coloring matter, all contained in the precipitate with neutral acetate of lead, together with malic, tartaric, and citric acids

Common names

Language	Common name
Kannada
Hindi
Malayalam
Tamil
Telugu
Marathi	NA
Gujarathi	NA
Punjabi	NA
Kashmiri	NA
Sanskrit
English	Mossy Speedwell, European Speedwell

Properties

Reference: Dravya - Substance, Rasa - Taste, Guna - Qualities, Veerya - Potency, Vipaka - Post-digesion effect, Karma - Pharmacological activity, Prabhava - Therepeutics.

Habit

Perennial herb

Identification

Leaf

Kind	Shape	Feature
Opposite	Short-stalked	Blade elongated sphere–ovate, round-tipped, fleshy, with entire margin or finely serrated

.

Flower

Type	Size	Color and composition	Stamen	More information
Bisexual	5–7 mm (0.2–0.28 in.) wide	Blue and dark-striped	Stamens 2	Calyx 4-lobed, lobes glabrous. . Gynoecium fused, single-styled.

Fruit

Type	Size	Mass	Appearance	Seeds	More information
Almost spherical	2.5–4 mm (0.1–0.16 in.) long	Shallowly notched tip, 2.5–4 mm (0.1–0.16 in.) long, glabrous, brown capsule	With hooked hairs		{{{6}}}

Mode of Propagation

Seeds.

How to plant/cultivate

Easily grown in a moderately fertile wet soil, growing best in water up to 15cm deep

Commonly seen growing in areas

North of Shetland, Highlands, The Channel Islands.

Photo Gallery

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

External Links

• Veronica beccabunga on calflora.net
• The rise and fall of the "antiscorbutics": some notes on the traditional cures for "land scurvy"
• Veronica beccabunga on gobotany newenglandwild org