Veronica opacaFr.

dark speedwell

WFO wfo-0000426121 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 6 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 6 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Veronica opaca, photographed by snaily_naily
fig. a snaily_naily, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-07 / obs. 195762735
Veronica opaca, photographed by Dmitriy Bochkov
fig. b Dmitriy Bochkov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 170964191
Veronica opaca, photographed by Dmitriy Bochkov
fig. c Dmitriy Bochkov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 170964202
Veronica opaca, photographed by Dmitriy Bochkov
fig. d Dmitriy Bochkov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 54800256
Veronica opaca, photographed by Анастасия Шавкина
fig. e Анастасия Шавкина, CC0 1.0 / obs. 205708986
Veronica opaca, photographed by Dmitriy Bochkov
fig. f Dmitriy Bochkov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 54800248
Veronica opaca, photographed by Анастасия Шавкина
fig. g Анастасия Шавкина, CC0 1.0 / obs. 200710889
Veronica opaca, photographed by Sigitas Juzėnas
fig. h Sigitas Juzėnas, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205473145

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 24 botanical countries

Regions where Veronica opaca is native: Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine Saudi ArabiaTurkmenistanAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkFinlandFranceGermanyHungaryItalyNetherlandsNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSwedenSwitzerlandUkraine
Native distribution of Veronica opaca, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Austria AUT EUROPE
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Netherlands NET
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Saudi Arabia SAU ASIA-TEMPERATE
Turkmenistan TKM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 5 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Cochlidiosperma frieseanum Opiz
  • Cochlidiosperma opacum (Fr.) Opiz
  • Veronica agrestis subsp. opaca (Fr.) Bonnier & Layens
  • Veronica agrestis var. opaca (Fr.) Wahlenb.
  • Veronica opaca var. affinis P.Afzel. ex Neuman

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.