FIGWORT FAMILY 



The flowers are pale blue, pencilled with darker 

 lines, and are set on short peduncles springing from the 

 axils of the upper leaves. The corolla falls quickly; 

 it speeds too well, especially when one tries to gather 

 it. The plant's range is world-wide and its flowering 

 season extended. 



COMMON SPEEDWELL 



Veronica officinalis 



Perennial by stolons. Naturalized from Europe. Dry 

 fields and woods. Nova Scotia to South Dakota, and 

 south to Georgia and Tennessee. Common in northern 

 Ohio. April-August. 



Stem. — Prostrate, rooting at the nodes, rising three to 

 ten inches, pubescent. 



Leaves. — Pubescent, opposite, short-petioled or sessile, 

 oblong or obovate, serrate, obtuse at apex, narrowed at 

 base. 



Flowers. — Small, pale blue on a lengthening narrow 

 raceme, several flowers in bloom at one time. 



Calyx. — Four-parted. 



Corolla. — Wheel-shaped, four-lobed, pale blue with dark 

 Hnes; the lower lobe smaller and narrower than the others. 



Stamens. — Two, opposite, flaring. 



Pistil. — Ovary one, two-celled; style one; stigma two- 

 lobed. 



Fruit. — Capsule obovate, compressed; seed flat. 



There are many Speedwells nestling in the grass of 

 our lawns or beside our garden walls or at the edge of 

 cultivated fields. They seem to prefer the conditions 

 that man makes; most of them do not wander very far 



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