N 



334 THE SCROPHULARIA FAMILY. [ Veronica. 



Plant downy or hairy, erect or procumbent, but not creep- 

 ing. Seeds cup-shaped. 

 Leaves ovate, coarsely toothed. Pedicels shorter than the 



calyx 14. V. aroensit. 



Leaves deeply cut 



Stems erect. Pedicels shorter than the calyx . . 15. V, verna. 

 Stems decumbent Pedicels as long as or longer than 



the calyx 16. V. triphyllot. 



A II the flowers axillary. The upper leaves like the lower ones, but 



smaller. Stems procumbent. Seeds flat or nearly so. 

 Sepals heart-shaped at the base. Leaves rather thick, often 



long-stalked. Capsule 2- to 4-seeded . . . . 11. V. hedercefolia., 

 Sepals ovate or lanceolate. Leaves short-stalked Capsule 



several seeded. 



Capsule twice as broad as long. Flowers rather large . 13. V.Buxbaumii. 

 Capsule but little broader than long. Flowers small . 12. V. agrestis. 



1. V. spicata, Linn. (fig. 750). Spiked S. Stock shortly creeping, 

 hard, and almost woody ; the stems ascending or erect, 6 inches to a 

 foot high, usually simple. Leaves oblong or the lower ones ovate, 

 downy and slighty crenate. Flowers of a clear blue or sometimes pale 

 pink, in a dense terminal spike ; the lobes of the corolla narrower and 

 less spreading, and the tube more apparent than in any other British 

 species. 



In hilly pastures, chiefly in limestone districts, over the greater part 

 of the continent of Europe, and northern Asia, short of the Arctic 

 regions. Rare in Britain, and chiefly in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, 

 and Wales. Fl. summer. A large and broader-leaved variety, V. hybrida, 

 Linn., occurs in Somersetshire and in some other western counties ; 

 and numerous varieties of this and the allied V. paniculata and longifolia 

 have long been cultivated for ornament in cottage-gardens. 



2. V. saxatilis, Linn. (fig. 751). Rock S.A. low, spreading per- 

 ennial, glabrous in all its parts except a slight glandular down in the 

 upper part, branching and often woody at the base, with spreading 

 or ascending flowering branches, 3 or 4 inches long. Leaves small, 

 obovate or oblong, entire or nearly s$, and rather firm. Racemes short, 

 of a few rather large, bright-blue flowers, on &ort pedicels. Capsules 

 ovate. 



On alpine rocks, often at great elevations, in most of the great 

 mountain-chains of Europe, extending northwards to the Arctic Circle, 

 but scarcely into Asia. In Britain not very abundant, and only in the 

 high mountains of Perthshire and some adjoining counties of Scotland. 

 Fl. summer. A variety with smaller pink flowers has been distinguished 

 under the name of V. fruticulosa, but it is very rare, and probably 

 merely accidental. 



3. V. alpina, Linn. (fig. 752). Alpine S. Stock shortly creeping, 

 but never woody as in V. saxatilis, and much less branched than in V. 

 scrpyUifolia. Flowering branches often solitary, always simple, ascend- 

 ing from 2 to 4 or even 5 inches high, and slightly hairy. The raceme, 

 when young, forms a short, slightly hairy head, and even in fruit is 

 but little elongated, consisting of 4 or 5 rather small blue flowers, vary- 

 ing occasionally, as in other species, to a pale pink or flesh-colour. 



In alpine situations, in most of the great chains of Europe, Asia, and 

 North America, extending into high northern latitudes. In Britain, only 

 near the summits of the higher mountains of Scotland. Fl. summer. 



4. V. serpyllifolia, Linn. (fig. 753). Thyme-leaved Steins shortly 



