120 FLOWERS OF LAKES, RIVERS, ETC. 



they open again to receive it, and expose the anthers to the touch of 

 the bee, which is dusted with fresh pollen. The upper lip of the 

 corolla is turned back and 2-lobed, and the lower spreading and 3- 

 lobed. The petals have 2 swellings on them, and they are spotted, the 

 spots acting as honey-guides. There are 4 stamens. The stigma has 

 2 lamella, which are sensitive, and close when touched on the inner 

 side. The capsule when ripe opens for the dispersal of the seeds 

 around the parent plant. 



This gorgeous wild-flower is a peat-loving plant growing in wet 

 peat soil. 



There are apparently no fungal or insect pests. 



Minmlns, Linnaeus, is a diminutive of the Greek mlmus, a mimic, 

 from the shape of the corolla, and the second name commemorates 

 Langsdorff. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



232. Minmlus Langsdorffii, Donn. Stem erect or creeping, leaves 

 ovate, lower petiolecl, dentate, upper amplexicaul, flowers yellow, with 

 purple spots, in the axils, solitary. 



Brooklime (Veronica Beccabunga, L.) 



The Northern Temperate Zone in Europe, North Africa, N. and 

 W. Asia, and the Himalayas is the home of this plant, which is not 

 known in any early deposits. Brooklime is found in all parts of Great 

 Britain, as far north as the Shetlands, and in the Highlands ascends 

 up to 2800 ft. It is found in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 



Brooklime is a common aquatic species which grows in a submerged 

 state in brooks, rivers, ponds, lakes, &c., and is thus a hydrophyte. 

 With it grow Water Cress, Water Ranunculus, White and Yellow 

 Water Lily, Water Mint, Amphibious Knotweecl, Arrow Head, 

 Flowering Rush, &c. 



Half aquatic, the stem of this plant is prostrate, ascending at the 

 tip, giving off roots at intervals. The whole plant is smooth and suc- 

 culent, reddish, branched. The leaves are oval, blunt, coarsely toothed, 

 smooth, fleshy, opposite; the teeth are terminated by stalked glands. 



The flowers are blue, in racemes, with a white eye, axillary, opposite. 

 The sepals are oval acute, not so long as the corolla. The flower- 

 stalks are spreading. The corolla is striped at the base with deep 

 veins, and may be pink, the petals oval and unequal. The capsule is 

 round, flat, slightly larger than the sepals, notched, swollen. The 

 seeds are winged, flattened, and smooth. 



