88 SPRING FLORA 



2. V. serpyllifolia L. A smooth, slender-stemmed perennial; 

 much-branched at the creeping base; 2-5 inches high. Leaves 

 opposite; obscurely crenate; the lowermost petioled and round- 

 ed, changing upward to ovate or oblong, and finally becoming 

 bracts. Flowers white or pale-blue with darker stripes. Fruit 

 broadly kidney-shaped, about the length of the calyx. In moist 

 places. May-Sept. 



3. V. peregrina L. Neckweed; Purslane Speedwell. Smooth 

 annual; stems erect, much-branched, 4-9 inches high. Leaves 

 mostly alternate; the lowermost petioled, toothed; the upper 

 ones sessile, oblong and entire. Flowers white (or rarely 

 pink); solitary and nearly sessile in the axils. Capsule round- 

 heart-shaped, usually shorter than the calyx. In moist places. 

 May-October. 



4. V. Toumefortii C. C. Gmel. (V. byzantina (S. & S.) B. 

 S. P.: V. Buxbaumii Tenore). A pubescent annual with dif- 

 fusely branched stems; 6-16 inches high. Leaves ovate or 

 elliptical; short-petioled; mostly crenate-dentate; opposite 

 below and alternate above. Flowers solitary in the axils of 

 the leaves. Corolla showy; sky-blue or sometimes paler, the 

 upper petals darker than others. Capsule slightly emarginate. 

 Along roadsides and in fields. May-September. 



OROBANCHACEJS. Broom-rape Family. 



Herbs completely parasitic upon the roots of other 

 plants, and hence entirely destitute of chlorophyll. 

 Stems erect, from nearly white to brownish or purplish. 

 Leaves alternate, reduced to appressed scales. Flowers 

 complete ; irregular ; in terminal, bract ed spikes. Calyx 

 of 4-5 united sepals. Corolla 2-lipped. Stamens 

 didynamous; borne on the tube of the corolla and 

 alternate with its lobes. (A fifth rudimentary stamen 

 is sometimes present). Ovary "superior," 1-celled, 

 with 4 parietal placentae, ripening into a capsule. 



1. OROBANCHE. (Aphyllon). Cancer-root. 



Glandular or viscid-pubescent. Flowers long-peduncled, 

 often scape-like. Calyx nearly equally 5-cleft. Stamens in- 

 cluded; the base of each anther-cell mucronate. Stigmas 

 shield-shaped. 



Corolla conspicuously 2-lipped; calyx-lobes shorter than 



tube 1. O. fasciculata 



Corolla obscurely 2-lipped; calyx-lobes longer than 



tube 2. O. unlflora 



1. O. fasciculata Nutt. (Aphyllon fasciculatum A. Gray; 

 Thalesia fasciculata (Nutt.) Britton). Stem 2-4 inches high, 

 densely glandular-pubescent. Peduncles 1-4 inches long, 1- 

 flowered. Flowers pale yellowish or purplish, with darker 

 spots and veins of the same color. In dry sandy or gravelly 

 soil, parasitic on the roots of Artemesia, Eriogonum. and other 

 plants. April-August. 



