66 PL^TS OF BERMUDA. 



serrated, teeth sharp and spreading, fringed with hairs on margin ; 

 flowers in pairs, stalked, axillary ; calyx deeply five-cleft, segments 

 slender, acute ; corolla-lobes oblong-lanceolate ; stamens four, 

 short, arising from near the base of corolla ; stigma globose ; cap- 

 sule quarter-inch long, oblong, equalling the persistent calyx. 

 Distribution, Bahamas, Turks Island, &c. ; habitat, waysides, East 

 Hamilton common. Flowers white, one-thii-d of an inch : August 

 to November. 



IV. HliKPDSTIS. 



Small pennnial creeping plants with opposite leaves and solitary, axil- 

 lary Jlowers, the latter supported hij a pair of bracts ; sepals fioe. unequal, 

 three outer larger and covering the two inner ; corolla four or five lobed, 

 obscurely two-lipped ; stamens in two pairs of unequal length; capsule 

 four - valved, nmny - seeded. 



1. H. Monneira. A smooth, i)i"ostrate, creeping plant, with a 

 round, fleshy stem, contracted and rooting at the nodes ; leaves 

 half -inch long, sessile, fleshy, entire, obovate, wedge-shaped ; 

 flower- stalks one inch long, bracts slender at base of sepals ; outer 

 sepals triangular ovate, inner slender ; corolla-lobes nearly equal ; 

 stamens slightly longer than the short corolla-tube. Distribution, 

 Bahamas and Southern United States ; habitat, wet fields and edges 

 of marshes, common. Flowers white with purple throat, one -third 

 of an inch in diameter : August and September. 



Small herbaceous plants with opposite or alternate leaves ; calyx four- 

 partita ; corolla deeply cleft into four slightly unequal lobes ; stamens two, 

 diverging, inserted on the fugiticc corolla ; capsule compressed, two-celled, 

 few -seeded. 



1. V. ayrestis (Speedwell). Annual; sterna slender, prostrate, 

 branching fi'om the base, four to six inches long, slightly hairy ; 

 leaves petioled, half-inch long, roundish ovate, coarsely • serrate, 

 floral leaves similar, alternate ; flower-stalks axillary, one-flowered, 

 length of leaves ; sepals equal, ovate, fringed with hairs, enlarging 

 in fruit ; capsule roundish, two-lobed. Distribution, Europe and 

 North America ; habitat, neglected gardens, &c. Flowers quarter- 

 inch diameter, X)ale blue, veined : March to May. 



2. V. arvcnsis (Speedwell). Annual; stems rigid, erect, or as- 

 cending, sparingly branched, four to eight inches long, pubescent ; 

 lower leaves petioled, one -third to half- inch long, cordate, ovate, 

 piibescent, with few serratures, floral leaves alternate, sessile, bract- 

 like, lanceolate, entire; flowers almost sessile in a long, leafy ra- 

 ceme ; sepals unequal, narrow, fringed, longer than the minute 

 corolla ; capsule heart- shaj^ed, shorter than persistent sepals. Dis- 

 tribution, Euro^Jc and North America ; habitat, neglected gardens, 

 &c. Flowers one -eighth of an inch, pale blue ; March to May. 



3. V. perigrina. Annual ; stem erect, smooth, sparingly branched, 

 four to eight inches high ; leaves oblong, blunt, few-toothed, rather 



