WEEDS OF THE FIGWORT FAMILY. 133 



restlessness, insomnia, etc. The roots are the part used, and if 

 gathered for sale should be thoroughly cleaned and dried. Rem- 

 edies: pulling or grubbing; cutting several times each season. 



99. VERONICA PEBEGEINA L. Purslane Speedwell. Neckweed. (A. N. 2.) 



Stem erect or ascending, glabrous, simple or branched, 3-9 inches 

 high; lower leaves opposite, oval or oblong, short-stalked; upper ones 

 alternate, oblong or linear, sessile, each with a short-stalked flower in its 

 axil. Flowers very small, nearly white; corolla w r heel-shaped, shorter than 

 calyx. Capsule nearly circular, notched above, many seeded. Seeds flat, 

 very small. 



Common in moist waste and cultivated grounds, along roadsides, 

 in lawns, etc. April-Oct. The name neckweed was given it from 

 its formerly being used in scrofulous affections of the neck. This 

 is the most common of a small group of weedy plants, known as 

 speedwells or veronicas. All have only two stamens inserted at 

 the base of the upper lobe of the 4-parted, wheel-shaped corolla. 

 Most of them are less than a foot high, and the leaves are in part 

 or all opposite, the flowers pale blue or white and the capsule or 

 pod flat, usually heart-shaped or notched above. They are named 

 for St. Veronica who, according to an old tradition, was a Jewish 

 maiden who wiped with her handkerchief the drops of anguish 

 from the face of the Savior when the latter was on the way to the 

 cross. The sacred features remained impressed upon the linen and 

 from the fancied resemblance of the blossoms of the speedwells to 

 this hallowed relic, the name Veronica was given them. In Ger- 

 many the speedwell is known as the flower of truth and the emblem 

 of friendship. Its name, like the forget-me-not, is a good wish at 

 parting. 



In addition to the one de- 

 scribed three others which are 

 common throughout the State are 

 (a) the corn speedwell (V. arven- 

 sis L. ), annual, stem spreading, 

 leaves pubescent, toothed, flowers 

 solitary in the axils, capsule heart- 

 shaped, deeply notched; (6) the 

 common speedwell (V. officinalis 

 L., Fig. 96), perennial, prostrate, 

 flowers in terminal spike-like ra- 



Fig.96. Common speedwell; a, flower; 6, fruit. CemeS, leaVCS OVal, Stalked, hairy, 



capsule triangular, broadly and 

 shallowly notched, and (c) the thyme-leaved speedwell (V. serpyl- 



