Cusick's speedwell as seen along the Maxwell Lake shoreline, Eagle Cap Wilderness..........August 3, 2016.
Cusick's speedwell as seen along the Maxwell Lake shoreline, Eagle Cap Wilderness..........August 3, 2016.
Characteristics:
Cusick's speedwell is an attractive perennial wildflower. It stems are simple, curved at the base or erect and from 6-20 cm high, arising from a mass of shallow rhizomes. The leaves are all found on the stems, where they are opposite and elliptic, ovate or obovate in shape. They range from 1-2.5 cm long and5-14 mm wide. The blades are glabrous with entire margins.
The inflorescence is a terminal raceme, compact in flower, elongating in fruit. The corollas are 5-petaled with the petals separate and spreading widely. The corolla is a deep blue and 8-13 mm wide. The sepals are unequal. The stamens are long-exserted and the style is 6-10 mm long.
Cusick's speedwell may be found on high, moist, open rocky slopes or occasionally in alpine meadows or streambanks. It is often found above timberline.
Cusick's speedwell may be found from the Olympic and Cascade Mts. of Washington east through the Blue and Wallowa Mts. of northeastern Oregon to northern and central Idaho and western Montana.
