332 SCROPHULAKIACE.E. (kIGWORT FAMILY.) 



16. VERONICA, L. Speedwell. 



Calyx 4- (rarelv .3-5-) partuil. Corolla wlicel-shapcd or salvcr-shapcd, the 

 border 4-iKuted (rarely 5-parto(l) ; the lateral lobes or the lower one eoinmonly 

 narrower than the others. Stamens 2, one caeh side of the upper lolte of the 

 corolla, exserted : anther-cells confluent at the apex. Style entire : sti^^ma 

 sinj;le. I'ud flattened, obtuse or notched at the apex, 2celled, few -many- 

 seeded. — Chiefly herbs : leaves mostly opposite or whorled : flowers blue, flesh- 

 color, or white. (Derivation doubtful; perhaps the flower oi' Si. Veronica.) 

 § 1. Tall perennials, with mostly ivhorled leaves: raames terminal, dense, spiked : 



bracts verij small: tube, of llie corolla lonc/er than its limb and much lonyer than 



the calijx ; both sometimes b-difl. (Lepttindra, Nutt.) 



1. V. Virginica, L. (Culver's-koot. Cilver's Physic.) Smooth 

 or rather douny ; stem simple, straight (2° -6° hi^h) ; leaves whorled in fours 

 to sevens, short-petioled, lanceolate, pointed, finely serrate ; spikes panicled ; 

 stamens much exserted. — Rich woods, Vermont to Wisconsin and southward: 

 often cultivated. July, Aug. — Corolla small, nearly white. Pod oblong-ovate, 

 not notched, opening by 4 teeth at the apex, many-seeded. 



§ 2. Perennials with opposite nsuallij serrate leaves : flowers in axillary mostly oppo- 

 site racemes : corolla wheel-shaped (pale blue) : pod notched, many-seeded. 



2. V. Anagallis, L. (Water Speedwell.) Smooth, creeping and 

 rooting at the base, then erect ; leaves sessile, most of them claspivy by a heart- 

 shaped base, ovute-lanceolale, acute, serrate or entire (2' - 3' long) ; j)cdicels spread- 

 ing; pod slightly uotclied. — Brooks and ditches, especially northward: rare 

 eastward. June -Aug. — Corolla pale blue with purple stripes. (Eu.) 



3. V. Americana, Schwcinitz. (American Brooklime.) Smooth, 

 decumbent at th.c base, then erect (8' -15' high) ; leaves mostly petioled, ovate or 

 Mom], acutish, serrate, thickish, truncate or slightly heart-shaped at the base; 

 the slender pedicels spreading; pod turgid. ( V. Beccabiinga, ^mer. a«//iorA-.) 

 — Brooks and ditches : common. June -Aug. 



§ 3. Perennials, with diffuse or ascending branches from a decumbent base : leaves 

 opfiosite : racemes axdiary, from alternate or sometimes opposite axils : corolla 

 wheel -shaped : pod strongly flattened, several-seeded. 



4. V. SCUtellkta, L. (Marsh Speedwell.) 6';noor/i, slender and weak 

 (6'- 12' high) ; leaves sessile, linear, acute, remotely denticulate; racemes 1 or 2, very 

 slender and zigzag ; flowers fw and scattered, on elongated spreading or reflexed 

 pedicels ; pod very flat, much broader than long, notched at both ends or didy- 

 mous. — Bogs : common northward. June- Aug. (Eu.) 



5. V. ofl&cinklis, L. (Common Speedwell.) Pubescent; stem pros- 

 trate, rooting at the base ; leaves short-petioled, obovate-illiptical or wedge-oblong, ob- 

 tuse, seiTale ; i-acemes den.iely many-flowered ; pedicels shorter than the calyx; ]iod 

 obovate-iriangular, broadly notched. — Dry hills and open woods. July. (Ku.) 

 §4. Leaves opposite : flotvirs in a terminal raceme, the lower bracts resembling the 



stem-ldivis: corolla wheel-shaped : pods flat, several-seeded. 

 * Perennials (mostly turning blackish in drying). 



6. V. alplna, L. Stem branched from the base, erect, simple (2'-G' 

 high) ; leaves elliptical, or the lowest rounded, entire or toothed ; nearly sessile; 



