Flower:

Single 1/3 to ½ inch flower on a slender stalk arising from leaf axils on branching stems. Flowers are tubular with 5 lobes, the 3 lower lobes round to oval and about equal in size, the upper lip shallowly lobed in 2 parts. Color is white to light blue or violet in color, typically with deeper colored markings on petal edges, throat and tube. Inside the tube are 2 fertile stamens, 2 club-shaped sterile stamens, and a single style. Sepals are fused with sharp, narrow teeth that extend less than half way up floral tube.

Leaves and stems:

Leaves are up to about 1 inch long and ½ inch wide, becoming slightly smaller as they ascend the stem, opposite, glossy, egg shaped to elliptical, broader towards base, tapered to a dull point, with no stalk to nearly clasping. A few to several shallow teeth are widely spaced along the edges. Stems are shiny smooth and square, spreading horizontally out to 8 inches long.

Notes:

False Pimpernel has two poorly defined varieties, both widespread within the same range. Var. dubia has larger leaves with lower ones more narrow at the base and the flower stalks are conspicuously shorter, barely surpassing the attending leaf. Var. anagallidea, also known as Lindernia anagallidea, has smaller leaves, mostly broad at base and with longer flower stalks that are much longer than attending leaves. A similar species is Hedge Hyssop (Gratiola neglecta), which has yellowish to white flowers, and a round stem covered in short hairs. My first images of False Pimpernel came from a plant that apparently popped up from the seed bank in a thin patch in my lawn in Lino Lakes. A second set of images came from a disturbed foot traffic path at Pioneer park in Blaine.