206 SCROPIIULARIACE.E. 



entire. Capsule compressed, often obcortlate, 2-celled, few- or many- 

 seeded. 



Herbs, rarely shrubs, with opj)osite or whorled leaves. Flowers soli- 

 tary, axillary, or in racemes, blue, flesh-colored, or white. 



Veronica Virginica Linne [LeiMndra Virginica Nuttall). — Culver's- 

 Root, Culrcrs-Physic. 



Description. — Tube of the corolla longer than its Hmb, and much longer 

 than the calyx. Both calyx and corolla sometimes 5-parted. Pod oblong- 

 ovate, not notched, opening by 4 teeth at the summit, many-seeded. 



A perennial herb. Stem simple, erect, smooth, 2 to 5 feet high. Leaves 

 in whorls of 4 to 7, lanceolate, j)ointed, finely serrate. Flowers white, in 

 dense terminal spicate panicled racemes, appearing in July and August. 



Habitat — In rich, open woods, from Vermont to Wisconsin and south- 

 ward. 



Part V^ed. — The rhizome and rootlets Official name : Leptandra — 

 United States Pliarmacopoeia. 



Veronica officinalis Linne. — Common Speedwell. 



Descriiotion. — Corolla with a very short tube, the limb rotate, the lower 

 segment narrowest. Capsule obovate or obcordate, many-seeded. 



A low perennial. Stem perennial at the base, much branched, creej)ing 

 and rooting at the nodes. Leaves opposite, short petioled, obovate-ellij)tical 

 or wedge-oblong, serrate, hairy. Flowers in axillary racemes, nearly ses- 

 sile, rather small, pale blue, rarely flesh-colored, appearing in midsummer. 



Habitat. — On dry hills and in open woods ; common both in this coun- 

 try and in Europe and Asia. 



Part Used. — The herb — not ofiicial. 



These two species of veronica, differing very widely in habit, represent 

 the medicinal characters of the genus. V. virginica stands, as it were, 

 alone, all other species resembling each other to a greater or less extent. 



Constituents. — Leptandra contains, in addition to the ordinary constitu- 

 ents of plants, a peculiar crystalline principle, leptandrin, having the bitter 

 and nauseous taste of the crude drug. Speedwell also contains a bitter 

 jDrinciple, but whether similar to, or identical with that of leptandra has 

 not been determined. 



Preparations. — Of lejDtandra : Extractum leptandrse — extract of lep- 

 tandra ; extractum leptandrse fluidum — fluid extract of leptandra. — 

 United States Pharmacopoeia. There is also a commercial preparation, er- 

 roneously called lei^tandrin, prepared by precipitation from the alcoholic 

 tincture. Sj)eedwell is commonly administered in infusion or decoction. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — When fresh, le^Dtandra acts as a violent 

 emeto-cathartic, too violent, indeed, to be used with safety. When dried, 

 its drastic properties are much modified, and in this condition it is said to 

 be laxative and cholagogue. It is used in disorders of the digestive sys- 

 tem, especially when accompanied by hepatic torjDor. 



