WALL SPEEDWELL 171 



The stamens and pistil mature at the same lime. The corolla- 

 tube is spurred. There are four fertile stamens, one absent or 

 abortive. The anthers are oblong. The stigma is notched. The 

 flowers are often cleistogamic. It is visited t)nly by bees. The 

 palate nearly closes the throat and does not project. The nectary 

 is purple and as long as the caly.x. When in flower it pushes itself out 

 into the light and sun, but when the seeds are mature it buries the 

 capsules in the cracks between stones on which it grows, so that the 

 seed is dispersed b\- an automatic psychic motion of the ])lant itself. 



Ivy-leaved Toad Ma.\ is a rt)ck plant growing usually on an arti- 

 ficial rock soil or wall, being a modern introduction, not native. 



Liiiaria, Tournefort, is from the fla.\-like foliage, Liiiuiii. The 

 application of toad arose from the name hitboiiiitjii being changed 

 to biifoniiiDi. Cyiiiba/aria, INIcUhiolus, is from the Latin cymhahiiii, 

 cymbal. 



This graceful plant is called Aaron's Beard, Climbing Sailor, 

 Creeping Jenny, Ivy-wort, Mother of Millions, Mt)ther of Thousands, 

 O.xford Weed, Pedlar's Basket, Penny Wort, Rabbits, Rambling- 

 Sailor, Roving Jenny or Roving .Sailor, Thousand Flower, W^ander- 

 ing Jew, Wandering Sailor. Parkinson's reason for calling it Ivy wort 

 is stated thus: "We mav call it in English either Iviewort or the 

 Ivie-like leaf as it is in the title". 



It is eaten as a salad, being acrid or pungent like Cress, and it was 

 endowed with antiscorbutic properties. It is a common garden flower 

 planted on rockeries, &c. 



EssENTi.^L Specific Characters: — 



227. Linaria Cviubalaria, Mill. — Stem long, trailing, purplish, 

 leaves cordate, lobed, glabrous, flowers blue, a.xillary, on long pe- 

 duncles. 



"Wall Speedwell (\'eronica arvensis, L.) 



A Southern plant, W'all Speedwell is found in the N. Temperate 

 Zone in Europe, N. Africa, N. and W. Asia, Himalayas, and has been 

 introduced into America. It is unknown in early deposits. This 

 plant is found in all parts of Great Britain as far north as the Shet- 

 lands, and ascends to nearly 2000 ft. in Yorks. It is found in Ireland 

 and the Channel Islands. 



Wall .Speedwell is an ar(Mio])hilous |)lant, which grows on wall-tops, 

 at the sides of paths, on sand\', open ground, as at the seaside, on 

 gravel drives, and other dry habitats, being .xerophilous. \\'ith it 



