The first British record of Veronica filiformis (Veronicaceae)

For almost 60 years, accounts of the history of Veronica filiformis Sm. in Britain and Ireland have described how, after an initial record in 1838, it was not recorded again until 1927, after which it spread very rapidly. An investigation of the 1838 record shows that, immediately after its publication, a leading botanist suggested that it was the species now known as V. persica (V. filiformis auct.). It is certainly far too doubtful to be accepted as the first record of V. filiformis in the wild. Once it is rejected, the history of V. filiformis in Britain and Ireland becomes much more straightforward.