MOUNTAIN FLOWERS 247 



turn was thus canonized because, according to an ancient 

 tradition, she wiped the drops of agony from our Saviour's 

 face when on His way to Calvary, and ever afterwards her 

 kerchief bore the vera iconica^ " the true likeness," of His 

 sacred features. 



V. serpyllifolia, or Thyme-leaved Speedwell, may be recog- 

 nized by its decumbent branching stems ; that is to say, the 

 stems are curved near the base and lie partly on the ground, 

 rooting where the joints touch the earth. Usually these stems 

 grow in pairs and bear at their upper ends spikes of pale 

 gray-blue blossoms striped with dark blue, the tiny flowers 

 also growing at close intervals lower down on the stalks. 

 The small oblong leaves grow in opposite pairs. Occasionally 

 the flowers are white. 



BUTTERWORT 



Pingnicula vulgaris. Bladderwort Family 



Stems: scape glabrous, tall. Leaves: from three to seven in a rosette 

 at the base of the scape, entire, ovate, obtuse. Flowers: one-flowered; 

 calyx five-parted ; corolla bilabiate, the upper lip two-cleft, the lower 

 one three-cleft, base of the corolla saccate and contracted into a nectar- 

 iferous, acute, nearly straight spur. 



At first sight the Butterwort looks like a lovely large pur- 

 ple violet, but a second glance reveals its rosette of very pale 

 green leaves, with their involute margins, and the traveller 

 at once recognizes the Pmguicida, its name being derived 

 from the \jdX\xs. pinguis ^ "fat," and referring to the horrible 

 slimy greasy secretion with which its leaves are coated, and 

 which renders them most repulsive to the touch. 



The flowers are of a rich purple colour, and are two-lipped, 

 the upper lip being cleft into two and the lower lip into three 

 lobes. These lobes are delicately veined and the lower ones 

 are covered with white hairs. The corolla terminates behind 

 in a long straight spur. The Butterwort always grows near 

 water, and usually in swamps or other very moist places. 



