Flower:

Long-stalked flowers borne in open racemes from the upper leaf axils. Each flower is about ¼ across with 4 blue, egg-shaped lobes, the upper lobe larger and lower one smaller. Lobes are fused at the base forming a short tube, greenish on the inside of the throat, with 2 white stamens and a single style projecting from the center. Only a 1 to few flowers may be open at any given time.

Leaves and stems:

Leaves are opposite, lance-linear, 1 to 3 inches long, up to about ¼ inch wide, toothless or with a few minute, widely-spaced teeth along the edges, pointed at the tip, and stalkless. Stems and leaves are typically hairless, occasionally sparsely hairy, rarely quite hairy.

Fruit:

Fruit is a flattened, hairless, heart-shaped capsule less than ¼ inch long, wider than long. Inside are up to 20 flattened seeds.

Notes:

A circumpolar species of both eastern and western hemispheres, Marsh Speedwell is widespread throughout the upper 2/3 of North America, preferring wetter locations at higher elevations in its southern range, and extending north beyond the Arctic Circle. It can have a small, wispy stature and sparse floral array which makes this a very inconspicuous species in its swampy habitats. Even with a more robust growth, the narrow leaves and loose racemes arising from the upper leaf axils, with flowers or fruits on long, wiry stalks is a distinct combination. Of note is that this species is typically hairless throughout, but the specimens we came upon in Lake County were uncommonly hairy.