572 SCR0PHULARIACEJ3. Veronica. 



15. VERONICA, lanii. Speedvveli-, Buooklime. 



Calyx 4-piirtoil. CmoUa rotate, 4-j)iu'tod ; tho lower lobo and suiuetiraea tho 

 lateral onoa narrower than tho otliei-s. Staiuena 2, inaerted on tho throat of the 

 corolla, Olio each hide of ita uii[K)r lobo, oxaortod ! colls of Iho anthor conlliuint at 

 the apex, Style tipped with a somewhat capitate stigma. Capsule compressed, 

 few- many-seeded ; the dehiscence generally loculicidal. — Leaves opposite or some- 

 times in whorls, or in one species mostly alternate. Flowers small, in racemes or 

 spikes, or sometimes solitary in the axils, blue, purplish, or white. 



A genus of about 150 species, distributed ahnost tlirougbout the world, mainly in temperate 

 and Irigid redons, not largely represented in North America, and scanty in California. In hi"h 

 latitudes of tlie aoutheru hemisphere several are shrubs or trees : one or two of these are in orifa- 

 mental cultivation. 



* Low peretmials, ivith opposite leaves. 



+- Racemes axiliary : plants ylabruus, decumbent or ascending, rooting at base. 



1. V. Americana, Schweinitz. Stems a span to 2 feet long : leaves ovate or 

 mostly oblong, seirate, rather succulent, short-petioled, the base slightly cordate or 

 truncate : racemes op|»osito, slcnder-pcduncled, mauy-Uowered : j)ediccls slender, 

 diverging : corolla bluish with purple stripea : caiKsule turgid, many-soedod. 



^ In broolvH and dilc.lie.s, not anoommon : extending nortii lo Alaska and cast to the Atlantic. 

 Formerly confounded with the V. licanbuntja of Europe. 



V. Anaoallis, Linn., like the preceding but with sessile and mostly clasping acute leaves, 

 occurs both north and east of California. 



V. scuTEi.LATA, Linn., growing in cold swamps northward, is also in Oregon. It is well 

 marked by its linear sessile leaves, louse racemes from alternate axils, filiform divaricate pedicels, 

 and very Hat few-seeded deeply notcheil cajisules. 



-J- -H L'aceme terminal, leafy below : pedicels short, erect: cajjside flat, several-seeded. 



2. V. alpina, Linn. Pubescent, or becoming glabrous below : simple stems 

 erect from a somewhat creeping base, a span or more high : leaves oval, oblong, or 

 the lowest roundish, somewhat toothed or entire, sessile : raceme spike-like, few- 

 flowered : corolla blue: capsule obovato or oblong, slightly notched. — The (h'een- 

 land and American form, var. Warmskioldii, Hook. JJot. Mag. t. 2795. V. Worms- 

 kioldii, lioemer & Schultes. 



High portions of the Sierra Nevada, at 8,500 to 10,000 feet {Brewer, Bolandcr): also in the 

 alpine region of tho Rocky J\lountuins, of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, and through 

 tho arctic rcgiuns. 



3. V. serpyllifolia, Linn. ]\Iinutely pubescent or glabrous, branching and 

 creeping at base, leafy : llowering shoots about a span high : leaves round-ovate or 

 oblong, obscurely crenate, thickish, barely half an inch long ; the lower short- 

 petioled ; the upjjer gradually diminished into lanceolate or oblong bracts : raceme 

 strict: corolla whitish or bluish with deeper stripes: capsule strongly notched, 

 broader than long. 



Not yet received from tho State, but doubtless in the Sierra Nevada, as it occurs northward 

 and eastward, extending through tho cooloi- parts of tho northern hemisphere. 



* * Low annual: all the upper leaves alternate. 



4. V. peregrina, Linn. ]\Iinutely pubescent or glabrous, a span or more high, 

 erect, branching : leaves rather succulent, mostly linear-oblong, obtuse ; the lower 

 commonly toothed ; the upper entire and narrower, gradually dinunishing, but all 

 longer than the very short-pedicelled flowers in their axils : corolla inconspicuous : 

 capsule rounded-obcordate, many-seeded. 



Waste and cultivated grounds, especially near habitations, everywhere aitpearing like an intro- 

 duced weed, but doubtless of American origin. 



