72 PROSERPINA. 



the idea is all over Europe, apparently. Fr. l petit 

 chene : ' German and English ' Germander,' a merely 

 corrupt form of Chamsedrys. 



The representative English veronica "Germander 

 Speedwell" very prettily drawn in S. 986 ; too tall and 

 weed-like in D. 448. 



2. Hederifolia. Ivy-leaved : but more properly, cym- 

 balaria-leaved. It is the English field representative, 

 though blue-flowered, of the Byzantine white veronica, 

 Y. Cymbalaria, very beautifully drawn in G. 9. Hederi- 

 folia well in D. 428. 



3. Agrestis. Fr. 'Rustique.' "We ought however 

 clearly to understand whether ' agrestis,' used by English 

 botanists, is meant to imply a literally field flower,, or 

 only a 'rustic' one, which might as properly grow in a 

 wood. I shall always myself use ' agrestis ' in the literal 

 sense, and 'rustica' for 'rustique.' I see no reason, in 

 the present case, for separating the Polite from the Rus- 

 tic flower : the agrestis, D. 449 and S. 971, seems to me 

 not more meekly recumbent, nor more frankly culture- 

 less, than the so-called Polita, S. 972 : there seems also 

 no French acknowledgment of its politeness, and the 

 Greek family, G. 8, seem the rudest and wildest of all. 



Quite afield flower it is, I believe, lying always low on 

 the ground ; recumbent, but not creeping. Note this dif- 

 ference : no fastening roots are thrown out by the repos- 

 ing stems of this Veronica ; a creeping or accurately ' ram- 

 pant' plant roots itself in advancing. Conf. Nos, 5, 6. 



