ORD. XX. Personate: ‘368 
VERONICA BECCABUNGA. BROOKLIME SPEEDWELL. 
sae PRE oe Pk ce eR RR 
SYNONYMA. Becabunga, Pharm. Lond. Curt. Flor. Lond. 
Veronica foliis ovatis serratis glabris ex alis racemosa, Hal. 
Stirp. Helv. n. 534. Anagallis Aquatica vulgaris sive Becabunga, 
Park. Theat. 1236. Anagallis Aquatica minor, folio subrotundo. 
Baul. Pin. 252. Anagallis seu Becabunga. Gerard, 620. . 
Class Diandria, Ord. Monogynia. L. Gen. Plant. 25. 
Etss. Gen. Ch. Cor. Limbo pik were lacinia — augustiore. 
Capsula bilocularis. 
= ee ED 
Sp. Ch. V. racemis lateralibus, fol. ovatis planis, caule repente. 
THE root is perennial, creeping, jointed, and from each joint 
sends forth many long slender fibres; the leaves are thick, oval, 
smooth, obtusely serrated, ef a pale-green colour, and stand upon 
the stem in pairs, either sessily, or upon very short footstalks; the 
stem is round, jointed, creeping, smooth, succulent, often of a 
reddish brown colour, and from eight to twelve inches high; the 
racemi or. flower spikes, are lateral, opposite, bracteated, and ter- 
‘minated by the flowers, which are of a faint blue colour, and 
divided into four small roundish leaves; the calyx is quadripartite. 
This plant is very common in ditches and shallow streams. 
__ The leaves and stem of Brooklime have a bitterish subastringent 
‘taste, but manifest little or no acrimony, nor any peculiar odour: 
by chemical experiments they appear to be subacid, and possess 
‘some degree of astringency; these qualities, however, are common 
to almost all fresh vegetables, and afford no proof of their medical 
powers, > : se 
