NATIVE WILD FLOWERS 



and using them as a pot herb. A case of this kind occurred 

 some years ago whereby several persons were poisoned. 

 At that time there was no attempt made by the backwoods 

 settlers to cultivate vegetables, and they made use of many 

 of the wild herbs with very little knowledge of their sana- 

 tive or injurious qualities. 



AMERICAN BROOKLIME Veronica Americana (Schw.). 



(PLATE XVII.) 



" Flowers spring up and die ungathered." 



Bryant. 



In the language of flowers the blossoms of the Veronica, 

 or Speedwell, are said to mean undying love or constancy, 

 but the blossoms of the Speedwell are fugacious, falling 

 quickly, and therefore, one would say, not a good emblem 

 of the endurance of love or friendship. 



Sweet, simple flowers are the wild Veronicas, chiefly 

 inhabiting damp overflowed ground, the borders of weedy 

 ponds and brooks, whence the names of Brooklime and 

 Marsh Speedwell, Water Speedwell, and the like. Some 

 of the species are indeed found mostly growing on dry hills 

 and grassy banks, cheering the eye of the passing traveller 

 with their slender spikes of azure flowers. This species is 

 often known by the pretty name of Forget-me-not, though it 

 is not the true " Forget-me-not," which is Myosotis palustris y 

 also with the rest of its family called " Scorpion-grass," 

 from the small buds, before expansion, having the petals 

 twisted and forming a small coil at the tips of the branches. 

 The American Brooklime is one of the prettiest of the native 

 Veronicas, and may easily be recognized by its branching 

 spikes of blue flowers and veiny partially heart-shaped 

 leaves. It is but little that we have to say of our pretty 



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