322 SCROPHULARIACEAE. 



452. VERONICA. Speedwell. 



Chiefly herbs; leaves opposite or whorled, or the upper alter- 

 nate; flowers small, in racemes or spikes or sometimes solitary 

 in the axils; calyx 4-parted; corolla rotate, 4-parted, the lower 

 lobes and sometimes the lateral ones narrower; stamens 2, 

 exserted; style entire; stigma single; capsule flattened, few- 

 many-seeded. 



Annuals; flowers solitary- in the axils. 



Pubescent; petals blue; leaves crenate. V. arvensis. 



Glabrous or nearly so; petals white; leaves mostly entire. V. peregrina. 

 Perennials; flowers in racemes. 

 Peduncles axillary. 



Leaves linear or linear-lanceolate; capsule deeply 



notched. V. sculellata. 



Leaves oblong-lanceolate to ovate; capsule with a shal- 

 low notch. V. americana. 

 Peduncles terminal. 



Capsules orbicular, obcordate; lower leaves petioled. V. humifusa. 

 Capsules elliptic, emarginate; leaves all sessile. 



Leaves shorter than the internodes; corolla 5-6 mm. 



broad. V. alpina. 



Leaves longer than the internodes; corolla 6-10 mm. 

 broad. 

 Corolla 8-10 mm. broad, blue. V. cusickii. 



Corolla 6-7 mm. broad, white. V. allenii. 



Veronica arvensis L. Annual, pubescent; stems simple or branched at 

 base, 5-20 cm. high, erect or nearly so; leaves ovate, crenate, the lower short- 

 petioled, the upper sessile; bracts lanceolate, entire; flowers small, short- 

 pedicelled; corolla pale blue, shorter than the caly.x; capsule obcordate. 



A weed, introduced from Europe. 



Veronica peregrina L. Annual, erect, branched from the base, glabrous 

 or puberulent and glandular, 8-40 cm. high; lower leaves opposite, petioled, 

 oblong, obtuse, dentate; upper alternate, linear, obtuse or acute, entire or 

 nearly so, 1-2 cm. long; flowers white, solitary' in the axils; pedicels very short, 

 not as long as the flowers; corolla 1—2 mm. broad; capsules orbicular, notched, 

 about as long as the calyx. 



Common in moist open places. 



Veronica scutellata L. Perennial, glabrous or nearly so, rooting at the 

 lower joints; stems 15-30 cm. high; leaves all sessile, lanceolate or nearly 

 linear, mostly denticulate or entire, attenuate-acute, 3-5 cm. long; racemes 

 axillary from alternate axils, slender, few-flowered, as long as or exceeding the 

 leaves; pedicels slender, spreading; corolla blue, 4-5 mm. broad; capsule 

 notched both at apex and base. 



In swamps, not rare. 



Veronica americana Schwein. Perennial, glabrous throughout, rooting at 

 the lower nodes; stems decumbent, usually branched, 30-60 cm. long; leaves 

 all opposite, oblong, ovate or lanceolate, obtuse, serrate, rounded at the base, 

 short-petioled; racemes opposite, in the upper axils, exceeding the leaves; 

 pedicels spreading, longer than the bracts and flowers; flowers blue with darker 

 stripes, 4 mm. broad; capsule with a shallow notch at the apex, 4-5 mm. broad. 



Common in wet places. Forms of this species are sometimes mistaken 

 for V. anagallis-aquatica L. which probably does not occur in our limits. 



