130 



BRITISH FLORA 



are broadly ovate, triangular, deeply doubly scal- 

 loped, toothed, lobed, heart - shaped to acute, 

 downy. The flowers are yellow, inflated, with 

 a narrow mouth, in axillary, terminal cymes or 

 corymbs, umbel -like. The bracts are leaf- like. 

 The 5 sepals are oblong, with the apex turned 

 back, not bordered. The flower-stalks are short 

 or slender. The corolla is pitcher-shaped. The 

 capsule is broadly ovoid, long, and narrow-pointed, 

 acute. The plant is 1-3 ft. high, flowering from 

 April to June, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Grey Field Speedwell (Veronica poliia, Fries = 

 V. didyma, Ten.). The habitat of this plant is 

 cultivated ground, fields, waste places. The 

 leaves are all stalked, heart-shaped to ovate, cut, 

 toothed, not so long as the flower-stalks, broader 

 than in V. agrestis, and with deeper irregular 

 teeth. The flowers are bright blue, the sepals 

 broadly ovate, long and narrow-pointed, more or 

 less acute, the corolla large. The stamens are 

 inserted at the bottom of the corolla. The capsule 

 consists of two swollen lobes, with short, dense 

 hairs without glands, and some glandular, shorter 

 hairs, or smooth. The seeds are 8-12 in a cell. 

 The plant is 4-8 in. high, flowering from April to 

 September, and is a herbaceous annual. 



Veronica peregrina, L. The habitat of this 

 plant is dry fields. The stem is erect, with blunt 

 leaves, narrow below. The lower leaves are 

 oblong, inversely egg-shaped, the upper are bracts. 

 The flowers are numerous, small, white with a 

 pinkish tinge, and less than the bracts, in a loose 

 raceme, slightly spiked. The flower-stalk is very 

 short, and the style also. The sepals are linear, 

 lance-shaped. The capsules are inversely heart- 

 shaped, smooth, not so long as broad, with rounded 

 lobes. The plant is 2-5 in. in height. It flowers 

 in May, and is an annual. 



Veronica refens, D.C. This plant occurs in 

 this country only as a weed in nursery grounds. 

 The stem is prostrate, rooting. The habit is creep- 

 ing. The leaves are oval to rounded. The 

 branches are short. The flowers are bluish-red. 

 The style is three times as long as the capsule. 

 The plant is a herbaceous perennial, flowering in 

 July. 



Veronica hybrida, L. The habitat of this species 

 is calcareous or limestone cliffs in the W. of Eng- 

 land and Wales. The habit is as in the last, but 

 this plant is taller. The lower leaves are oval 

 with a wedge-shaped base, or ovate with a rounded 

 or slightly heart-shaped base. The leaves are 

 stalked, broader, and are coarsely toothed through- 

 out. The plant is 6-15 in. in height. 



ORDER VERBENACE^ 



Vervain ( Verbena officinalis, L.). The habitat 

 of this plant is dry waste ground, waste places. 

 The habit is erect. The plant is downy, with stiff 

 hairs. The rootstock is woody. The stems are 

 rigid, branched above, solitary, 4-angled, hairy. 

 The leaves are opposite, oblong, ovate, trifid, and 

 entire, or laciniatc, with many acute or blunt seg- 

 ments, the upper narrower, rough, lobed, and 



coarsely toothed. The flowers are lilac or pale- 

 purple, small, distant, in slender, dense spikes, 

 afterwards lengthening, panicled. The bracts are 

 ovate, acute, half as long as the calyx, which is 

 half as long as the tube of the corolla. The limb 

 of the corolla is short. The nutlets are blunt, 

 granulate. The plant is 1-2 ft. high, flowering 

 from July to September, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



ORDER LABIAT* 



Round - leaved Mint (Mentha rotnndifolia, 

 Huds.). The habitat of this plant is wet places, 

 waste places. The habit is as in M. hirstita. 

 The plant is much - branched. There are leafy 

 aerial stolons. The leaves are without stalks, or 

 only the lower ones are stalked. The leaves are 

 hairless, ovate to oblong, lance-shaped, glandular 

 below, blunt, scalloped, wrinkled above, shaggy 

 or woolly below. The flowers are lilac, pink or 

 white, cylindrical, loose, in interrupted terminal 

 spikes. There are ovate, awl-like, long, narrow- 

 pointed bracts. The throat of the calyx is naked, 

 with awl-like teeth, half as long as the tube. The 

 corolla is hairy, smooth within. The plant is 2-3 ft. 

 in height, flowering in August and September, and 

 is a herbaceous perennial. 



Spearmint (Mentha viridis, L.=M. spicata, L.). 

 The habitat of this plant is wet marshy places, 

 waste places. It has been regarded as possibly a 

 cultivated form of Af. sylvestris, but differing in 

 its pungent smell. There are aerial, leafy stolons. 

 The leaves are smooth (as the rest of the plant), 

 or nearly so. They are stalkless, lance-shaped to 

 oblong, acute, coarsely toothed, smooth above, 

 glandular below. The flowers are lilac, in loose, 

 cylindrical, slender spikes, which are interrupted, 

 with distant whorls, with awl-like bracts. The 

 throat of the calyx is naked. The corolla is smooth. 

 The plant is 1-3 ft. in height, and flowers in August 

 and September, being a herbaceous perennial. 



Long-leaved Mint or Horse-mint (Mentha longi- 

 folia, Huds.=J/. sylvestns, L.). The habitat of 

 this plant is moist waste places, damp waste 

 ground. The habit is as in the last. The stem is 

 robust, woolly, with white hairs. The leaves are 

 stalkless, or more or less so, ovate to lance-shaped, 

 oblong to inversely ovate, heart-shaped below, 

 more or less acute, coarsely toothed, more or less 

 smooth above, woolly below. The flowers are 

 lilac, in continuous, slender spikes, which are 

 linear to cylindrical, close and dense. The brac- 

 teoles are awl-like, the bracts lance-shaped. The 

 ultimate flower-stalks are hairy. The calyx-teeth 

 are lance-shaped. The corolla is hairy. The plant 

 is sweet-scented. It is 2-3 ft. high, and is in 

 flower in August and September. It is a herb- 

 aceous perennial. 



Lesser Calamint (Calamintha parviflora, Lam. 

 = C. Nepeta, Savi). The habitat of this plant is 

 dry places, hedge-banks. The habit is more or 

 less erect. The stems are numerous, from the 

 crown of the root, with short, erect branches. 

 The leaves are more or less entire, shortly-stalked, 

 ovate, coarsely-toothed, greyish-green, scalloped. 



