According to the Bible, Mary made several significant journeys in her adult life that could have involved a resting place along the way: to the hill country of Judea to visit Elizabeth, to Bethlehem for the census (and birth of Jesus), to Jerusalem for The Presentation, to Egypt in order to escape Herod’s order to kill all male infants, return to Nazareth from Egypt at Herod’s death, to Jerusalem for Passover, to Cana for a wedding, and to Jerusalem for the crucifixion. The distances Mary traveled varied from about 4 miles to about 100 or more. Travel was by foot, donkey or camel and rest stops would probably have been needed especially when Mary was pregnant or when caring for baby Jesus. The soft, mat-like appearance of Veronica officinalis would have seemed like an appealing seat to the early Christians who gave the name Our Lady’s Resting Place to the plant.
Also known as heath speedwell, common gypsyweed, and Paul’s betony, this herbaceous perennial is native to open areas in Europe and western Asia. It is a member of the plantain family, Plantaginaceae, that also includes foxglove, snapdragon, and angelonia. Plants grow 4-12″ tall and have hairy, branched, mostly prostate stems. The opposite, softly-hairy leaves are 1/2-2″ long, oval-elliptic to egg-shaped, and have toothed margins. In summer, short racemes of flowers appear over a long bloom period. The flowers are 1/4 to 1/3″ across and have four rounded lobes that are pale blue, violet or pinkish-purple streaked with darker purplish lines. Stems root at the nodes and plants can become weedy.
The genus name, Veronica, honors St. Veronica who gave her veil to Christ as he walked to Calvary. The specific epithet, officinalis, is the Latin word meaning belonging to an officina , the storeroom of a monastery, where medicines and other necessaries were kept, and refers to the medicinal use of the plant.
Common speedwell likes light shade to sun and average, moderately moist to dry, well-drained soil, in USDA Hardiness Zones 3-7. Plants are generally healthy but can suffer damage from powdery mildew, spider mites and thrips. Propagation is by division and seed.