DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 147 



I. VERONICA, Speedwell 



Low herbs with opposite leaves, and flowers in axillary 

 racemes cr solitary. Calyx and corolla 4-parted, with the lobes 

 more or less unequal. Stamens 2. Pod inversely heart-shaped. 



a. V. Americana Schweinitz. Smooth herbs growing in wet 

 places, with the stems rooting at the joints. Leaves ovate or oblong, 

 on petioles. Flowers numerous, small, bright blue with darker stripes. 

 Widely distributed. 



b. V. peregri'na L. Annual, 3-10 in. high, erect, with few 

 branches. Lower leaves opposite, upper alternate, linear-oblong, 

 obtuse, entire or toothed. Flowers on short pedicels in the leaf 

 axils. Corolla very small, white. Capsule many-seeded. Common, 

 apparently an introduced weed. 



H. SCROPHULA'RIA, Figwort, Bee-plant 



Perennial herbs with opposite leaves, and small flowers in 

 loose cymes arranged in a terminal panicle. Calyx 5-cleft, 

 with broad, rounded lobes. Corolla with a globular tube and 

 5 lobes ; four are erect and the fifth turned down or spreading. 

 Stamens 4 i n & pairs, shorter than the lobes of the corolla and 

 inserted low on the tube. A rudiment of a fifth stamen 

 appears in the form of a scale on the upper side of the 

 throat of the corolla. 



S. Califor'nica Cham. CALIFORNIAN BEE-PLANT. Stems 2-5 ft. 

 high, nearly smooth. Leaves oblong-ovate, usually cordate at base, 

 coarsely doubly toothed or incised. Flowers brownish purple, less 

 than half an inch long, the rudimentary stamen narrowly wedge- 

 shaped or spatulate. The honey-glands produce a large quantity 

 of honey which can usually be seen within the corolla tube. This 

 is widely distributed and common. 



m. COLLIN'SIA 



Low annual herbs with opposite leaves, and flowers some- 

 what resembling pea blossoms. Corolla 2-lipped, with the 

 lower li^W-lobed and the middle lobe compressed at the sides, 

 including th'e style and stamens ; tube short, with a protuber- 

 ance at the base on the upper side, the mouth closed by an 



