Brooklime
Veronica beccabunga
Brooklime - semi-aquatic perennial with succulent, hollow, creeping stems that root at intervals and sometimes float in
the water. The leaves of brooklime are opposite, shiny green, and oblong with rounded ends. Thick and fleshy in texture, the leaves
have slightly toothed margins. Numerous small, bright blue and white flowers on short stems flower during the whole of
the summer months.
Brooklime is often found growing alongside watercress. It has a similar sharp but slightly more bitter taste and was
traditionally eaten in salads and as a spring vegetable. Medicinally, brooklime was a fourteenth-century home
remedy for gout and swellings, and was once prescribed for
liver problems.
HABITAT AND CULTIVATION
Widespread in all parts of the UK, Europe, Asia,
and North Africa. Brooklime is found along the banks of streams, ditches and near freshwater ponds.
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