SCROPHULAKIACEiE. (fIGWORT FAMILY.) 387 



••- ■*- Capsule strongly flattened, several-seeded. 



4. V. SCUtellata, L. (Marsh Speedwell.) »S//Joof/<, slender and weak 

 (6-12' high) ; leaves sessile, linear, acute, remotely denticulate ; racemes several, 

 very slender and zigzag; flowers few and scattered, on elongated spreading or 

 reflexed pedicels ; capsule very flat, much broader than long, notched at both 

 ends or didymous. — Bogs, common. June -Aug. (Eu., Asia.) 



5. V. officinalis, L. (Common Speedwell.) Pubescent; stem ;^/os- 

 trate, rooting at base; leaves short-petioled, obovate-elliptical or wedge-oblonr/, 

 obtuse, serrate; racemes densely many flowered ; pedicels shorter than the calyx ; 

 capsule obovate-triangular, broadly notched. — Dry hills and upen woods, N. 

 Eug. to ^lich. , and southward. July. (Eu., Asia.) 



V. Cham^drys, L. Stem pubescent, at least in two lines, ascending from 

 a creeping base; leaves subsessile, ovate or cordate, incisely crenate ; racemes 

 loosely flowered ; pedicels little longer than calyx ; capsule triangular-obcor- 

 date. — Sparingly introduced into Canada, N. Y., and Penn. (Adv. from Eu.) 



* * Leaves opposite ; flowers in a terminal raceme ; the lower bracts leaf-like; 



capsules flat, several-seeded. Perennials {mostly turning blackish in drying). 



6. V. alpina, L. Stem branched from the base, erect, simple (2-12' 

 high) ; leaves elliptical, or the lowest rounded, entire or toothed, nearly sessile ; 

 raceme hairy, few-flowered, crowded ; capsule obovate, notched. — Alpine sum- 

 mits of the White Mts. (Eu., Asia.) 



7. V. serpyllifolia, L. (Thyme-leaved Speedwell.) Much branched 

 at the creeping base, nearly smooth ; branches ascending and simple (2 - 4' high) ; 

 leaves ovate or oblong, obscurely crenate, the lowest petioled and rounded, the 

 upper passing into lanceolate bracts ; raceme loose ; corolla whitish, or pale 

 blue, with deeper stripes ; capsule rounded, broader than long, obtusely notched. 



— Roadsides and fields, common; introduced and indigenous. May -July 

 (Eu., Asia.) 



* * * Annuals ; floral leaves like those of the stem {or someivhat reduced)^ the 



flowers appearing to be axillary and solitary, mostly alternate ; corolla shorter 

 than the calyx. 

 -t- Flowers short-pedicelled ; floral leaves reduced ; corolla shorter than the calyx. 



8. V. peregrina, L. (Neckweed. Purslane Speedwell.) Glan- 

 dular-puberuleut or nearly smooth, erect (4-9' high), branched; lowest leaves 

 petioled, oval-oblong, toothed, thickish, the others sessile, obtuse; the upper 

 oblong-linear and entire, longer than the almost sessile (whitish) flowers; cap- 

 sule orbicular, slightly notched, many-seeded. — Waste and cultivated grounds, 

 in damp soil; throughout U. S., and almost cosmopolite. April- June. 



V. arvexsis, L. (Corn Speedwell.) Simple or diffusely branched 

 (.3 - 8' high), hairy ; lower leaves petioled, ovate, crenate ; the uppermost sessile, 

 lanceolate, entire ; capsule inversely heart-shaped, t\\e lobes rounded. — Culti- 

 vated grounds, Atlantic States to Tex., rather rare. (Nat. from Eu.) 



•»- •»- Flowers long-pedicelled in axils of ordinary leaves ; seeds cup-shaped. 



V. AGRESTis, L. (Field Speedwell.) Leaves round or ovate, crenate- 

 toothed, the floral somewhat similar; calyx-lobes oblong ; flower small; ovary 

 many-ovuled, but the nearly orbicular and sharply notched capsule 1 -2-seeded 



— Sandy fields, X Brunswick to La., near the coast. (Adv. from Eu.) 



V. BuxHAt^Mii, Tenore. Leaves round or heart-ovate, crenately cut-toothed 

 (I - 1' long) ; flower large (nearly ^' wide, blue) ; calyx-lobes lanceolate, widely 



