Veronica biloba

Raab-Straube, Eckhard von & Raus, Thomas, 2025, Euro + Med-Checklist Notulae, 18, Willdenowia 55 (1), pp. 107-144 : 129

Veronica biloba L. – Fig. 18.

A Uk: Ukraine: Dnipro city, Armstrong Str. (former Kazakova), park near secondary school, 48.428098°N, 35.041766°E, 149 m, large colony under trees, 24 Apr 2017, Baranovski (DSU); ibid., junction of Pikhoty Korolya Str. and Heroiv Ryatuvalnykiv Str. (former Volodi Dubinina), 48.425934°N, 35.040429°E, 144 m, small colony near apartment building, 22 Apr 2018, Baranovski (DSU); ibid., campus of Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, 48.432797°N, 35.037590°E, 140 m, sporadically along road, 24 Apr 2018, Baranovski (DSU); ibid., near Dnipro airport, 48.368964°N, 35.090740°E, 146 m, lawn, 30 Apr 2020, Baranovski (DSU); ibid., Memory and Reconciliation Square, 48.473129°N, 35.005570°E, 76 m, ruderal habitat (former lawn), 13 Apr 2024, Karmyzova (DSU). – This is a new record for Ukraine. Veronica biloba is an annual species native to Caucasus, SE European Russia and C and SW Asia ( POWO 2024x). It has leaves almost entire or finely serrulate, fruiting pedicels horizontally spreading or scarcely arcuate-deflexed, capsules sharply and deeply notched, and seeds bright yellowish, 1.2–1.5 mm long and indistinctly transversely wrinkled. In its primary habitats, V. biloba prefers rocky, fine-soil slopes at moderate to high altitudes and clay deserts ( Elenevsky 1978). A closely related species, V. campylopoda Boiss. , differs by its strongly arcuate-curved peduncles at maturity and smaller (up to 1 mm long), prominently transversely wrinkled seeds ( Elenevsky 1978). Anoth- er species, V. arguteserrata Regel & Schmalh. , which was previously introduced to Ukraine ( Moysiyenko & al. 2024), differs from V. biloba by its runcinate leaves. The style length is another key distinguishing feature: 0.48 ± 0.04 mm in V. biloba vs 0.98 ± 0.06 mm and 1.49 ± 0.09 mm in V. arguteserrata and V. campylopoda , respectively. In Dnipro, where it was first recorded in 2017, V. biloba has likely been introduced accidentally, possibly with ornamental plants. The species, however, is not listed in the Catalogue of the Botanical Garden of Oles Honchar Dnipro National University ( Opanasenko & al. 2015). Currently, V. biloba is known from several localities across the city, exhibiting stenotopic tendencies in that it thrives particularly in abandoned lawns characterized by insufficient moisture and moderately anthropogenically transformed chernozem soils. The species forms dense, monospecific stands of up to 4000 individuals per m 2, reaching 20 cm tall. Its expansion within Dnipro is ongoing.

B. Baranovski & L. Karmyzova