Brooklime Veronica beccabunga
 
 
Family – Plantaginaceae, (was Veronicacea) Speedwell family
Perennial – up to 60 cm tall, spreading readily
Flowering – May to September
Soil   - damp boggy
Sun - full sun
 
Brooklime is a low-growing creeping plant of streams and ditches, pond edges, river banks and marshy grassland on fertile soils throughout Britain, but rarely in highland Scotland. It has rounded, fleshy, shiny leaves and stalks and bright blue flowers, similar to the flowers of germander speedwell.
 
First formally recorded in 1548 by William Turner,1. brooklime was used as a remedy to treat gout and also used as a diuretic and to prevent scurvy in the Middle Ages. A spring tonic, made from infusions of brooklime and scurvy grass Cochlearia officinalis (a saltmarsh plant) with juice of Seville oranges, was recommended to purify the blood and prevent scurvy. Fresh leaves applied to cuts and burns acted as cool, soothing relief. Brooklime is sometimes used today as a salad plant, not unlike watercress.2.
 
In his opening paragraph on brooklime, Culpeper writes ‘It riseth from a creeping root, that shooteth forth strings at every joint as it runneth….’3. And it is this low-growing creeping habit that makes it ideal for the small garden pond. It will quickly cover unsightly edges of newly made ponds and can easily be trimmed and gifted to friends once it has filled its allocated space. It is best propagated in this way, from shoots of existing plants rather than from seed. Brooklime makes a good companion to the yellow-flowered creeping jenny Lysimachia nummularia, another successful ground coverer, and to the taller common fleabane.
 
Insects associated with brooklime4. include leaf beetles, such as the bright metallic blue brooklime beetle Prasocuris junci, the dark blue Phaedon armoraciae and the dark brown and black weevil Gymnetron beccabungae. Several aphid species including Aphis beccabungae and Aphis nasturtii are closely associated with brooklime providing food for ladybird and hoverfly larvae predators as well as damselflies and dragonflies attracted to garden pond habitats.
 
 
References
 
1.  Pearman, D. (2017). The Discovery of the Native Flora of Britain and Ireland, A compilation of the first records for 1670 species and aggregates, covering Great Britain, Ireland, The Channel Isles and the Isle of Man. Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland. p 416
 
2.  Michael, P.A. 1986. A Country Harvest. Peerage Books.  p. 236
 
3.  Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician. (1826). This edition published in 2003.      Greenwich Editions. London.p. 25
 
4.  See the Biological Record Centre database
 
 
 
 
Page written by Caroline Ware.  Compiled by Steve Head
Brooklime Veronica beccabunga
 
 
Family – Plantaginaceae, (was Veronicacea)
Speedwell family
 
Perennial – up to 60 cm tall, spreading readily
 
Flowering – May to September
 
Soil   - damp boggy or immersed
 
Sun - full sun
 
Brooklime is a low-growing creeping plant of streams and ditches, pond edges, river banks and marshy grassland on fertile soils throughout Britain, but rarely in highland Scotland. It has rounded, fleshy, shiny leaves and stalks and bright blue flowers, similar to the flowers of germander speedwell.
 
First formally recorded in 1548 by William Turner,1. brooklime was used as a remedy to treat gout and also used as a diuretic and to prevent scurvy in the Middle Ages. A spring tonic, made from infusions of brooklime and scurvy grass Cochlearia officinalis (a saltmarsh plant) with juice of Seville oranges, was recommended to purify the blood and prevent scurvy. Fresh leaves applied to cuts and burns acted as cool, soothing relief. Brooklime is sometimes used today as a salad plant, not unlike watercress.2.
 
In his opening paragraph on brooklime, Culpeper writes ‘It riseth from a creeping root, that shooteth forth strings at every joint as it runneth….’3. And it is this low-growing creeping habit that makes it ideal for the small garden pond. It will quickly cover unsightly edges of newly made ponds and can easily be trimmed and gifted to friends once it has filled its allocated space. It is best propagated in this way, from shoots of existing plants rather than from seed. Brooklime makes a good companion to the yellow-flowered creeping jenny Lysimachia nummularia, another successful ground coverer, and to the taller common fleabane.
 
Insects associated with brooklime4. include leaf beetles, such as the bright metallic blue brooklime beetle Prasocuris junci, the dark blue Phaedon armoraciae and the dark brown and black weevil Gymnetron beccabungae. Several aphid species including Aphis beccabungae and Aphis nasturtii are closely associated with brooklime providing food for ladybird and hoverfly larvae predators as well as damselflies and dragonflies attracted to garden pond habitats.
 
 
References
 
1.  Pearman, D. (2017). The Discovery of the Native Flora of Britain and Ireland, A compilation of the first records for 1670 species and aggregates, covering Great Britain, Ireland, The Channel Isles and the Isle of Man. Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland. p 416
 
2.  Michael, P.A. 1986. A Country Harvest. Peerage Books.  p. 236
 
3.  Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician. (1826). This edition published in 2003. Greenwich Editions. London.p. 25
 
4.  See the Biological Record Centre database
 
 
 
 
Page written by Caroline Ware.  Compiled by Steve Head
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