Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 311 



AMERICAN BROOKLIME (Veronica americana), 

 the prettiest of the speedwells or veronicas, is a very 

 frail plant; the stem is fragile and the petals fall off 

 at the slightest provocation. At a short distance the 

 little beds of blue flowers, lining the sides of the 

 brook, might be mistaken for Forget-me-nots, but in- 

 spection quickly reveals the differences. Except when 

 it does grow in colonies or beds, it is quite apt to be 

 overlooked entirely for it is quite inconspicuous in 

 the rank and luxurant vegetation that fringes the 

 streams it inhabits. 



The stem is stout, smooth, hollow and quite weak; 

 the lower part spreads over the ground and frequent- 

 ly takes root at the angles of the lower leaves. At 

 intervals, branches rise to height of 6 to 15 inches, 

 bearing from the axils of the upper leaves, small four- 

 parted blue flowers in loose racemes. The light 

 blue petals have purple stripes and a white 

 spot at the base. The two spreading stamens and the 

 pistil are purple. The light green, oblong-lanceolate 

 leaves are toothed and have short, flat stems. 



Brooklime has a long season of bloom, being found 

 in flower from May until September. It is common in 

 moist ditches and along brooks or in swamps, from 

 Newfoundland to Alaska and south to Va. and Mo. 



COMMON SPEEDWELL (Veronica officinalis) is a 

 popular little plant as common in dryfields and open 

 woods as its preceding relative is in moist places. 

 The prostrate woolly stem is erect at the end and ter- 

 minates in a raceme of pale lavender, four petalled 

 flowers, the lower petal of which is conspicuously 

 smaller than the other three, a common trait of this 

 genus. Speedwell is quite common through the Unit- 

 ed States and southern Canada. These two veronicas 

 are the prettiest and the most common of several 

 found in our range. 



