๐๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐๐๐ฌ
There are three Veronicas that find themselves on the margins of the Forest.
There is ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐, which comes from Persia, modern-day Iran. It arrived in Europe a couple of centuries ago. There is ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐, whose Latin name means polished or neat, a species that arrived many centuries earlier with agriculture. And there is ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ , the native one and, as its name suggests, a plant once valued by the apothecary.
It is only the first two that require careful observation to distinguish them. The Persian interloper has flowers borne on a long stalk, or pedicel, like the one in the photo. The polite one is much neater, with the flowers sitting close to the stem.
The medicinal one looks quite different. More about it when I find some.
One newcomer, one ancient agricultural traveller, and one that truly belongs to the woodland flora.