368 SCROPHULARINiE 



16. Veronica (Speedwell). — Herbs or shrubs, with flowers 

 usually blue ; corolla rotate, unequally 4-cleft, the lower lobe 

 narrowest ; stamens 2, exserted. (Name of doubtful origin, perhaps 

 a variant of Beionica, or perhaps a mediaeval Latin word corrupted 

 from the Greek Beronike.\ 



"^Annual ; prostrate ; flowers solitary, axillary ; bracts scattered 



1. V. hederifolia (Ivy-leaved Speedwell). — Leaves stalked, s — 7- 

 lobed, cordate, bearing in the axil of each leaf a pale blue flower, 

 the stalk of which is bent back when in fruit ; sepals cordate, 

 ciliate ; capsule of 2, much swollen, 2-seeded lobes. — A common 

 weed everywhere. — Fl. March — August. Annual. 



2. V. didyma (Grey Field Speedwell). — Leaves stalked, irregu- 

 larly serrate; flowers bright blue, ^ in. across, on stalks longer 

 than the leaves ; sepals broadly ovate, sub-acute ; capsule of 2, 

 turgid, generally hairy, 8 — 1 2-seeded lobes. — Fields and waste 

 places; common. — Fl. April — September. Annual. 



3. V. agrestis (Green Field Speedwell). — Stems several, long, 

 prostrate ; leaves stalked, cordate, regularly serrate ; flowers ^ in. 

 across, on stalks shorter than the leaves ; sepals linear-oblong, 

 blunt ; corolla pale blue, the lower lobe white ; capside of 2, 

 turgid, hairy, keeled, 4 — 6-seeded lobes. — Fields and waste places ; 

 common. — Fl. April — September. Annual. 



4.* V. Tournefortii (Tournefort's Speedwell). — A stouter, pros- 

 trate, hairy species, with shortly-stalked, cordate, obtuse, coarsely 

 serrate leaves ; large, bright blue flowers \ in. across, on stalks 

 longer than the leaves ; sepals lanceolate, ciliate ; capsules of 2, 

 diverging, sharply-keeled, hairy, 5 — 8-seeded lobes. — Cultivated 

 ground; introduced about 1826, but now general. Fl. April- 

 September. Annual. 



■^^ Flowers in terminal racemes ; corolla-tube very short 



5. V. triphi'llos (Finger-leaved Speedw^ell), distinguished by its 

 erect, branched stem, 4 — 8 in. high ; palmately 3 — ^-lobed leaves ; 

 and dark blue flowers in a loose, few-flowered raceme. — Sandy 

 fields in Yorkshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk, and near Frensham, 

 Surrey ; rare. — Fl. April — June. Annual. 



6. V. verna (Vernal Speedwell). — An erect, hairy, leafy little 

 plant, 2 — 4 in. high ; with pinnatifid leaves and numerous minute, 

 pale blue flowers. — Sandy places, Norfolk and Suffolk ; rare. — 

 Fl. May, June. Annual. 



7. V. arvensis (Wall Speedwell). — A slightly larger, downy 

 plant, 4 — 18 in. high, often covered with dust, with two lines of 



