WILD FLOWERS blue and purple 



site pairs. The delicate little pale blue flower has 

 four lobes, each of which is striped with a darker shade. 

 The lower lobe is noticeably smaller and narrower 

 than the outer three. The calyx is four-parted, and 

 there are two opposite flaring stamens and a pistil. 

 They are crowded on slender upright stems, which 

 spring from the axils of the leaves, forming narrow 

 spike-like arrangements. The flowers are remarkably 

 fragile and drop away upon the slightest provocation, 

 and especially so when an attempt is made to pick them. 



THYME-LEAVED SPEEDWELL 



Veronica serpyll'ifblia. Figwort Family. 



This small and nearly smooth perennial species has 

 weak, slender stems which are much branched at their 

 creeping base. It grows from two to ten inches in 

 height and often lies close to the ground. The little 

 oval or oblong leaves are indistinctly toothed, and 

 occur in opposite pairs on short stems. The tiny 

 flowers resemble those of the American Brooklime, and 

 are pale blue with darker stripes, or sometimes white 

 in colour. The tips of the green calyx show between 

 the divisions of the corolla, and the two spreading 

 stamens are tipped with light blue. They are set on 

 short stems springing from the axils of small leaflets, 

 and are arranged in short terminal spikes. Though 

 delicate in texture, they are much less fragile than those 

 of most of the Speedwells. It is found commonly in 

 grassy fields and thickets, and along highways from 

 April to August, and ranges from Labrador to Alaska, 



3^7 



