I50 ll.OWl.RS Ol' THJ'. CORNIII.I.DS 



from the snout-slT.i[)ed tlower; iind Oivii/iiiu/, 1 )fHl()n;L'us, is an old 

 mcdiieval generic name for Snapdragon. It is called Calf-snoul. 



This species is distinguished by the absence of a spur, in being 

 annual, and having long pointetl leaves in the ca!\.\, whilst they are 

 short and obtuse in .1. luajits. 



EssKNiiAi. Sri;( iKir Ciiakacters: — 



230. ^Intin-liiiiuiii Oi-oiitiuiii, L. — Stem short, leaves narrow, linear 

 lanceolate, flowers purjjle, in a loose spike, sepals exceeding the corolla, 

 linear. 



Ivy-leaved Speedwell (X'eronica hederafolia, L.) 



Pamiliai- lo us Irom ils almost uni\ersal occurrence on cultivated 

 ground this plant is found in the N. Temperate Zone in Europe, 

 N. Africa, W. Asia, and the Himalayas. It is unknown in seed- 

 bearing deposits. In Great Britain it is absent in lirecon, Radnor, 

 Cardigan, S. l.iius, Isle of Man, Wigtown, Peebles, Selkirk, Stirling, 

 Main Argyll, .Mull, X. Ebudes, W. Ross, Caithness, and the Hebrides, 

 as far as the .Shetlands. It is found in Ireland and the Channel 

 Islands. 



Ivy-leaved Speedwell is a typical cornfield weed, which comes 

 up year after year in great abundance in all cultivated fields, as well as 

 in gardens, on waste ground, and by the roadside here and there. It 

 is associated with Corn Buttercup, Popples, Charlock, Heart's Ease, 

 Spurrey, Pool's Parsley, and many other cornfield weeds. 



The stem is trailing, branched, round, soft, covered with soft hair, 

 stringy internally. As the second Latin and English names imply the 

 leaves are ivy-shaped, i.e. 3-5 lobed, with wide angles. The leaf- 

 stalks equal the leaves, and the leaves are alternate, heart-shaped 

 at the base, fleshy, hairy. 



The flowers are pale blue, in the axils, borne on i -flowered flower- 

 stalks, which in fruit are turned back. The sepals (4) are heart-shaped, 

 acute, hairy on the margins. The corolla is bell-shaped, with oval 

 petals, the lower of which are less than tlic calyx, and hairy within. 

 The capsule consists of 2 swollen heart-shaped lobes, containing 

 2 seeds in each. 



As a trailer the plant is not more than 3 in. high. It flowers in 

 March up to June. The plant is annual, reproduced by seeds and 

 division of the root. 



The flowers are small and solitary, appearing in succession, the 

 male and female organs ripening at once. They are less conspicuous 

 than others in the same genus, being pale blue. P'ew insects visit 



