Ko.4. 



The Marl Indicator. 



125 



«B to identify the plant, and, by publishing the 

 description, to furnish all the readers of tlie 

 Farmers' Register, the means to avail of its 

 use, in showing the before hidden presence 

 of xaax\ on their lands, or in their neighbor- 

 hood. Dr. Westmore caused a correct colored 

 drawing to be made of the plant, hy a good 

 artist who happened to be at his house; and 

 from the drawing we have had engraved the 

 representation which accompanies this arti- 

 cle; and which, with our own description may 

 enable persons witliout botanical knowledge, 

 to identify the plant But to those who pos- 

 sess any thing of that knowledge, (to which 

 WG have no pretension.) a much surer means 

 of identification is offered in the following 

 report of the botanical character of the plant, 

 which was furnished at our request by a cor- 

 respondent, who is much better informed on 

 the subject, and to whom the growing plant 

 was exhibited. His report was as follows : 



" I carefully examined the plant you point- 

 ed out to me, when here, as indicating the 

 presence of rnarl in the earth, or as growing 

 only in streams supplied with calcareous mat- 

 ter. Though the flowers are very small, the 

 botanical character is obvious, and easily de- 

 termined. The plant belongs to the second 

 clas.s and first order of the artificial system, 

 (diandria monogynia,^ and to the genus Ve.- 

 roni^^a of that order. Loudon describes 84 

 species of this genus, only one of which 

 {Veronica Virgirtica, with a variety. Incur- 

 nata^) is American. This plant does not 

 agree with any of the numerous species de- 

 scribed by Loudon, and I very much doubt 

 whether it is described by any botanist. I 

 would, therefore, be inclined to consider it a 

 new and important species. Its botanical de- 

 scription is — root fibrous, stem smooth, leaves 

 opposite, a mplexicaul, lanceolate, slightlj' ser- 

 rate, flowers racemose, axillary, calix four- 

 tojjthed, corolla light blue, entire base; lip 

 four parted, capsule two celled. Should this 

 be (as I think there is every probability) an 

 entire new species of Vcrnnica, would you 

 permit me the liberty of suggesting a speci- 

 fic name — Veronica Rvffmial If its pres- 

 ence is a sure indication of marl, it is a highly 

 impoTtant plant, and your name is almost 

 identified with marl." 



We beg leave to decline the unmerited 

 honor above projjosed, as we have no claim to 

 the discovery — and but only that of having 

 appreciated the facts, as i-f.on as they were 

 heard of, and nov/ of making tliem pub- 

 lic. We should think the name of West- 

 morea more appropriate : but our friend West- 

 more also waives all claim to the discov- 

 ery, and says, that he does not know who 

 tiret noticed the connexion of the plant with 

 marl. And if, contrary to the present suppo- 

 sition, the plant should in feet have been long 



on the catalogues of botaniKt>;, it will not the 

 less deserve to be considered, for its peculiar 

 quality now just brought to light, as a new 

 and important agricultural diifcovery. We 

 prefer for is name the descriptive one of the 

 "Maj-1 Indicator." 



But we have further evidence of this being 

 in truth a new species, in the opinion of our 

 friend and correspondent, Gideon B. Smith, of 

 Baltimore, to whom we sent the drawing to 

 have it engraved, accompanied by a t^tatement 

 of the peculiar value of tjie ])lant, and a copy 

 of the foregoing botiinical description. Ills 

 answer says — 



" I cannot determine the botanical charac- 

 ter of the plynt from the drawing, but it cer- 

 tainly appears to be a Veronica. The de- 

 scription of the plant and the drawing agree 

 perfectly, so far as I can follow the latter — 

 the characters of the corolla, calyx and cap- 

 sule not being distinct in the drawing. [Ow- 

 ing to their small size.] The plant is new 

 to me ; it is not described by I-oiidon, nor, eo 

 far as I can find, by Elliott, nor any other bot- 

 anist to whose works I have access. 



"It will be a curious and vahiable discovery 

 for the agricultural interest, should it prove 

 to be in tact an indication of the presence of 

 calcareous matter, and I shall certainly beavT 

 it in mind in all my botanical rambles." 



W^e readily found this plant growing in 

 several of the rivulets flowing through differ- 

 ent beds of fossil shell?, or marl, on our farm. 

 For the fact th;)t it is yet to be found in none 

 other than such str me, we have as yet to 

 rely on the inforrno. ui of others; and on the 

 certainty of its absence as well as its presence 

 agreeing with the absence and presence of 

 marl, obviously depends the value of the "in- 

 dicator." 



The plant is an evergreen; it grows only 

 in shallow water. The stalk is seldom more 

 than a foot high; though we found some 2-^ 

 feet. It is so succulent and tender, that it 

 droops and withers very quickly after being 

 pulled up, and left dry ; but when immediately 

 placed with the roots in a bottle of water, it; 

 continued to live, and to throw out successive 

 flowers for several weeks. It was in flower 

 in May, and had not ceased to flower in the 

 beginning of Septersber. The flowers are 

 very small, of a pale blue, or nearly of a lilac 

 color, and appear in small clusters, or string.s. 



We have taken much trouble and incurred 

 some expense, to enable our readers to iden- 

 tify this plant. It is hoped that many will 

 search for it, and test its alleged peculiarity 

 of location ; and if observation should serve 

 to disprove that peculiar character, it is fur- 

 ther hoped that such observation and facts will 

 he communicated for publication. To correct 

 erroneous opinions, and mistaken facts, is as 

 useful and as neceseary to agricultural know- 



