Veronica bartsiifolia Boissier ex Freyn; V. bornmuelleri Haussknecht; V. karatavica Pavlov ex Nevski.

Annuals. Stems erect, 10-30(-50) cm tall, simple or branched, densely pubescent. Petiole 3-8 mm; leaf blade lanceolate, elliptic, or ovate, 1-3.5 X 0.3-1.5 cm, sparsely pubescent, margin serrate. Racemes terminal, sometimes also axillary, 2-30 cm, glandular pubescent with hairs 0.4-0.7(-1) mm; bracts alternate, ovate-lanceolate, basal ones serrate, apex acute. Pedicel 3-12 mm in fruit, recurved at top, glandular hairy mixed with eglandular hairs. Calyx 4-lobed, laterally more shallowly parted to 3/4 of length; lobes ovate-lanceolate, 5-10 X 2-4 mm in fruit, margin sometimes toothed, apex acute, veins distinctly 3. Capsule obcordate, shorter than calyx, strongly compressed, 3.5-5 X 4-8 mm, apex notch 1/2-2/3 of capsule length and angled at 30-60. Style, 0.8-1.5 mm, reaching about middle of notch. Seeds 4-8 per capsule, navicular, 1.8-2.5 X 1-1.5 mm; seed coat reticulate, obscurely transversely rugose. Fl. Mar-Jun.

Only one Chinese specimen (Kuan Ke-jie 4332) from Xinjiang has been seen by the authors.

Steppes, waste fields, sparse woods; 600-3000 m. Xinjiang [Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; SW Asia, naturalized in North America].