20G SCUOPIIULARIACEiE. 



entire. Capsule compressed, often obeordate, 2-ccllod, few- or many- 

 seeded. 



Herbs, rarely shrubs, Avith opposite or wliorlcd leaves. Flowers soli- 

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



Veronica Virginica Linnu {Lcplandm ]'hy/tnica Nuttall). — ('iilnrs- 

 Itoot, Cidrcr'K-Ph ysic. 



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

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

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



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

 in whorls of 4 to 7, lanceolate, ^jointed, finely serrate. Flowers white, in 

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



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

 ward. 



Part Vxcd. — Tlie rhizome and rootlets Official name : Leptandra — 

 United Sifdcs Pliarmnropiria. 



Veronica officinalis Linne. — Common Speedwell. 



Descrijdion, — 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, nuich branched, c)*eejiing 

 and rooting at the jiodcs. ■ Leaves opposite, short petioled, obovate-elliptical 

 or wedge-oblong, serrate, hair}'. Flowers in axilhuy racemes, nearly ses- 

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



Hahitid. — On dry hills and in oj)eu woods ; common both in this coun- 

 try and in Europe and Asia. 



Part Uacd. — The herb — not official. 



These two species of vei'onica, dilToring very widely in habit, represent 

 the medicinal characters of the genus. Y. 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, leplandrin, having the bitter 

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

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

 not been determined. 



Preparalionx. — Of leptandra: Extractum leptandra? — extract of lep- 

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

 United Slates Phnrmacopceia. There is also a commercial preparation, er- 

 roneously called leptandrin, prepai'cd by pi*ecipitation from the alcoholic 

 tincture. Si^eedwoll is commonly administered in infusion or decoction. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — When fresh, leptandra acts as a violent 

 emeto-cathartic, too violent, indeed, to be used with safety. W^ien dried, 

 its drastic jiroperties 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 torpor. 



