158 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



In fields, damp pastures, waste places, and by roadsides, &c. 

 Very common, and generally distributed. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Spring to Autumn. 



Stems 3 inches to 1 foot high. Leaves ^ to f inch long. Flowers 

 \ inch across ; capsule J inch long, broader than long, rounded at 

 the base. Plant dull-green, with the leaves nearly glabrous. 



Perennial Smooth Speedwell. 

 Sub-Species II.— Veronica humifusa. Dicks. 



Plate DCCCCLXXIX. 



Jieich. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XX. Tab. MDCCXVIII. Fig. 4 ? 

 Dicks, in Trans. Linn. Soc. Vol. II. p. 288. 

 V. serpyllifolia, /3 humifusa, Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. v. p. 249. 

 V. serpyllifolia, /3 alpina. Hook. & Am. Brifc. FI. ed. viii. p. 305. 

 V. serpyllifolia, var. borealis, Liist. Reich. Jil. I.e. p. 44 1 



Stems branched at the base, and a little way above it, procum- 

 bent throughout. Leaves broadly-oval or roundish, often entire 

 or merely repand. Haceme few-flowered, short, not occupying 

 more than a fourth of the stem when in fruit. Eachis and pedi- 

 cels clothed with jointed gland-tipped hairs. Corolla blue, with 

 darker lines. Capsule longer than the sepals, densely ciliated with 

 gland-tij)ped hairs, the notch between the segments rather shallow. 



In oozy places on mountains. Common in the Scotch High- 

 lands ; also in North Wales, and Northumberland. 



England, Scotland. Perennial. Late Summer and Autumn. 



This plant is usually considered as a mere variety of V. serpylli- 

 folia, but it appears to be permanently distinct from the common 

 lowland form of that plant. Mr. H. C. Watson cultivated it for many 

 years in his garden, and it continued quite distinct, though, unfor- 

 tunately, he was never able to raise it from seed. I had living plants 

 sent from Braemar by Mr. Charles Bailey, of Manchester, which in 

 the succeeding season retained all their characters, but perished in 

 the dry weather of summer, which did not affect the ordinary form 

 of V. serpyllifolia. The plant has so much the aspect of V. alpina, 

 that it was mistaken for it by Lightfoot, and has been by several other 

 botanists. The stems are prostrate, 2 to 6 inches long, the branches 

 rooting at the nodes. The leaves are broad, more nearly entire, and 

 more shining than in V. eu-serpyllifolia ; the flowers fewer, larger, 

 bright-blue, on longer pedicels ; the sepals broader and shorter ; the 

 capsule is longer in proportion to the sepals, more deeply notched, 

 and much more hairy. 



^Prostrate Smooth Speedwell. 



