32 Rhodora [February 



18. Veronica latifolia L. 



Veronica latifolia L., Sp. PI. 13. 1753. "Habitat in Helvetia, 

 Bithynia. " The identity of this species has been much disputed, on 

 one side being such statements as Bentham in DC, Prod. 10: 469. 

 1846, who considers it to be a broad-leaved form of V. Teucrium L., 

 on the other Kerner in Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 23: 367-369. 1875, 

 who makes a strong plea for its identification as V . urticaefolia Jacq., 

 Fl. Austr. 1: 37. pi. 59. 1773. Certainly some of the synonyms 

 cited by Linne" appear to be V. urticaefolia, a species very readily 

 distinguished by its slender stem, thin smooth leaves which are 

 sharply serrate and long-acuminate, and its shorter racemes, on the 

 slender pedicels of which are borne the short sepals and small pinkish 

 corollas. Linnet's description, in the use of the words " foliis rugosis 

 dentatis," certainly does not describe urticaefolia, and moreover one 

 can scarcely believe that he would have omitted characterization 

 of the leaf-acumination. Sir J. E. Smith, in Rees Cyclop. 37: Art. 

 Veronica, no. 58, describes the Linnean specimen and emphatically 

 asserts its kinship to V. Teucrium L., not to urticaefolia Jacq. In 

 the absence of citation to other specimens studied by Linne\ the 

 specimen of the Linnean Herbarium should stand as type. Sir J. 

 E. Smith carefully contrasts this with V. Teucrium L., but study of 

 the varying leaf-form of the latter confirms Bentham's view as to 

 their identity. 



Veronica ^Teucrium L., Sp. PI. ed. II. 16. 1762. "Habitat in 

 Germania." Linne possessed no specimen of this in his herbarium, 

 which readily explains his describing as new a narrower-leaved form 

 of this species than his own V. latifolia. The specific name is derived 

 from "Teucrii IV tertia species Clus. hist. 1 p. 349." L'Ecluse, 

 Rar. PI. Hist. 349. 1601, figures and briefly describes a plant, which 

 is an ovate-leaved form of the species, and says that it grows "in 

 herbosis collium jugis [Pannoniae .... Austriae Moraviae 

 . . . . & Bohemiae]. " Linne" s description of his plant as with 

 leaves "ovatis rugosis dentatis" shows the similarity of this to his 

 own latifolia. 



Roadsides, pastures and waste land, New Hampshire to Ontario, 

 New Jersey and Ohio; introduced from Europe. 



19. Veronica Chamaedrys L. 



Veronica Chamaedrys L., Sp. PI. 13. 1753. "Habitat in Europae 

 pratis." The diagnosis is essentially taken from Linne\ Fl. Suec. 

 5, no. 12. 1745, where the plant is stated to occur in Sweden "in 

 pratis ubique. " Evidently this is the species now considered. 

 Several specimens from Sweden seen, one collected by Dr. W. A. 

 Murrill at Upsala, July, 1902, being probably a topotype. 



Roadsides and meadows, occasional from Prince Edward Island to 

 Ontario, New Jersey and Ohio. Introduced from Europe. 



