DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 205 



serrate, short-petiole d. Racemes 2-4: in. long, axillary and opposite. 

 Corolla wheel-shaped, blue. Capsule swollen, roundish. Muddy- 

 soil about springs and brooks. 



2. V. officinalis, L. Common Speedwell, Gypsy Weed. 

 Perennial. Roughish-downy, with the prostrate stems spreading 

 and rooting. Leaves wedge-oblong or nearly so, obtuse, serrate, 

 somewhat petioled. Racemes dense, of many pale bluish flowers. 

 Capsule rather large, inversely heart-shaped and somewhat trian- 

 gular. Dry hillsides, open woods and fields. 



3. V. serpyllifolia, L. Thyme-leaved Speedwell. Perennial. 

 Smooth or nearly- so ; branching and creeping below, but with nearly 

 simple ascending shoots, 2-4 in. high. Leaves slightly crenate, the 

 lowest ones petioled and roundish, those farther up ovate or oblong, 

 the uppermost ones mere bracts. Raceme loosely flowered. Corolla 

 nearly white or pale blue, beautifuUj^ striped with darker lines ; cap- 

 sule inversely heart-shaped, its width greater than its length. Damp 

 grassy ground ; a common weed in lawns. 



4. V. peregrina, L. Purslane Speedwell. A homely, rather 

 fleshy, somewhat erect-branched annual weed, 4-9 in. high. Lowest 

 leaves petioled, oblong, somewhat toothed, those above them sessile, 

 the uppermost ones broadly linear and entire. Flowers solitary, 

 inconspicuous, whitish, barely pediceled, appearing to spring from 

 the axils of the small floral leaves. Corolla shorter than the calyx. 

 Roundish, barely notched, many-seeded. Common in damp ground, 

 in fields and gardens. 



Vn. CASTILLEIA, Mutis. 



Herbs parasitic on the roots of other plants. Leaves alter- 

 nate ; the floral ones usually colored at the tip and more showy 

 than the flowers. Flowers yellow or purplish in terminal 

 leafy spikes. Catyx tubular, flattened, 2-4-cleft. Corolla-tube 

 included within the calyx; upper lip of the corolla very long, 

 linear, arched, and enclosing the stamens, 2 of which are long 

 and 2 short. Ovary many-ovuled. 



1. C. coccinea, Sprengel. Scarlet Painted Cup, Paint-brush, 

 Indian Pink, Prairie Fire, Wickakee. A hairy, simple-stemmed 

 herb. Annual or biennial. Root-leaves clustered obovate or oblong. 

 Stem-leaves cut ; floral leaves 3-5 cleft and bright scarlet (occasion- 

 ally yellow) toward the tips, as though dipped in a scarlet dye. Calyx 

 nearly as long as the pale yellow corolla, 2-cleft. The spikes are 

 often very broad, making this one of the most conspicuous of our 

 native flowers. Damp, sandy ground, or on bluffs near streams ; 

 sometimes in marshes. 



