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Veronica catenata

Pennell

Sessile Water-speedwell

G5Secure Found in 3 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
UnknownThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.135521
Element CodePDSCR20090
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusProvisional
Name CategoryVascular Plant
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassDicotyledoneae
OrderPlantaginales
FamilyPlantaginaceae
GenusVeronica
Concept Reference
Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Pojar, editors. 2000. The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia. Volume 5. Dicotyledons (Salicaceae through Zygophyllaceae) and Pteridophytes. British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks and British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Victoria.
Taxonomic Comments
Kartesz (1994 and 1999) includes Veronica catenata in V. anagallis-aquatica. Here recognized as distinct by Douglas et el. (2000).
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2024-09-30
Change Date1984-03-16
Edition Date2024-09-30
Edition AuthorsSoteropoulos (2024)
Threat ImpactUnknown
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
Veronica catenata is a wide-ranging annual or perennial herb in a variety of open wetland habitats with a circumtemperate distribution, occurring throughout much of Europe, northern Africa, and North America from Quebec west to British Columbia, Canada south in the United States to California, Nevada, Wyoming, New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, Tennesee, and North Carolina. Threats potentially include development, hydrological alteration, succession, and invasive species. Little is known about trends, but with a large range extent and large number of occurrences, abundant habitat, broad habitat preferences, and no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities, this species is considered secure.
Range Extent Comments
Veronica catenata has a circumtemperate distribution occurring throughout much of Europe, northern Africa, and North America from Quebec west to British Columbia, Canada south in the United States to California, Nevada, Wyoming, New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, Tennesee, and North Carolina (FNA 2019). The southeastern United States distribution is obscured "because of taxonomic confusion, misidentifications, and misattributions" (Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2024). Range extent was estimated to be over 40 million square kilometers using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1993 and 2024 (GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024, NatureServe 2024, SEINet 2024).
Occurrences Comments
By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1993 and 2024, it is estimated that there are thousands of occurrences rangewide (GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024, NatureServe 2024, SEINet 2024).
Threat Impact Comments
Although threats are not widely documented, this species is potentially threatened by development, hydrological alteration, succession, invasive species, and other threats in some places. However, their overall impact is likely negligible given the species' broad range, large number of occurrences, and no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Veronica catenata grows in "wet places, rarely running water, lakeshores, ditches, muddy places, stream channels" (FNA 2019).
Palustrine Habitats
TEMPORARY POOLHERBACEOUS WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN4
ProvinceRankNative
QuebecS2Yes
British ColumbiaS3Yes
OntarioSUYes
SaskatchewanSNRYes
AlbertaS3Yes
Nova ScotiaS1Yes
ManitobaS3Yes
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
NebraskaSNRYes
OregonSNRYes
MassachusettsSHYes
North DakotaSNRYes
TexasSNRYes
OhioSNRYes
MontanaSNRYes
New JerseyS1Yes
KansasS1Yes
WyomingS3Yes
IowaS3Yes
TennesseeS1Yes
VirginiaSNRYes
IndianaSNRYes
MaineSNRYes
WashingtonSNRYes
West VirginiaSNRYes
PennsylvaniaSNRYes
ArkansasS2Yes
New MexicoSNRYes
New YorkSNRYes
VermontS1Yes
MinnesotaSNRYes
IdahoSNRYes
MissouriSNRYes
WisconsinSNRYes
South DakotaSNRYes
NevadaSNRYes
OklahomaSNRYes
CaliforniaSNRYes
IllinoisSNRYes
MichiganSNRYes
UtahSNRYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
Unknown/undetermined———

—

Plant Characteristics
DurationANNUAL, PERENNIAL
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (3)
California (1)
AreaForestAcres
Adams PeakPlumas National Forest5,283
Utah (2)
AreaForestAcres
0418033Ashley National Forest24,909
418009Uinta National Forest18,064
References (9)
  1. Dodds, Jill S. 2023. <i>Veronica catenata</i> Rare Plant Profile. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, State Parks, Forests and Historic Sites, State Forest Fire Service and Forestry, Office of Natural Lands Management, New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, Trenton, NJ. 15 pp. [https://nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/natural/heritage/docs/veronica-catenata-sessile-water-speedwell.pdf
  2. Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Pojar, editors. 2000. The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia. Volume 5. Dicotyledons (Salicaceae through Zygophyllaceae) and Pteridophytes. British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks and British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Victoria.
  3. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2019. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 17: Magnoliophyta: Tetrachondraceae to Orobanchaceae. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxiv + 737 pp.
  4. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2024. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2024).
  5. iNaturalist. 2024. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2024).
  6. Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
  7. NatureServe. 2024. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.
  8. Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2024. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2024).
  9. Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2024. Flora of the southeastern United States. Edition of March 4, 2024. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2203 pp.