22 DIANDRIA— MONOGYNIA. Veronica. 



A lax, spreading, slender plant, generally smooth, but, like V. ser- 

 pyllifolia, becoming hairy, and even hoary, in dry or barren 

 ground. Fl. pale flesh-coloured, streaked with dark blue, on 

 slender stalks, more and more divaricated after flow^ering. Cal. 

 acute. Caps, didymous. 



10. V. officinalis. Male, or Common, Speedwell. 



Clusters lateral ; partial stalks shorter than their bracteas. 

 Leaves elliptical, serrated, roughish. Stem procumbent. 

 Stigma capitate. 



V. officinalis. Linn. Sp. PL 14. Willd. v. \. 59. Vahl Enum. 



v.1.74. Fl. Br. 16. Engl. Bot. v. U. t.7 65. Curt. Land. 



fasc.3. t.l. fVoodv. suppl. t.2l9. Hook. Scot. 6. Fl. Dan. 



t. 248. Bull. Ft. t. 293. Poit. Sr Turp. Par. 12. t. 8. Riv. 



Monop. Irr. t. 93. 

 V. mas, supina et vulgatissima. Rail Syn. 281. 

 V. vera et major. Ger. Em. 626. f. 

 V. mas. Fuchs. Hist. 166./. 

 fi. V. AUionii. Hook. Scot. 7, excluding the syn. 



About dry sandy banks, barren heaths, woods, and mountainous 

 pastures, common. 



/S. On various mountains in Scotland and Ireland. Messrs. Mackay, 

 G. Don, Templcton, &c. 



Perennial. May, June. 



Stems prostrate, creeping, 6 — 18 inches long, round. Whole 

 plant more or less rough with spreading, short, jointed hairs. 

 Leaves blunt or pointed, single-ribbed, on short stalks, rather 

 rigid. Clusters pointed, much longer than the leaves, erect. Cal. 

 elliptical, narrow, nearly equal, hairy. Cor. light blue, with dark 

 streaks. Stigma always capitate. Caps, inversely heart-shaped, 

 rather abrupt, veiny. Seeds pale, smooth, disk-like. 



/3 has nearly smooth stems, leaves and calyx, with hairy Jlower- 

 stalks, but appears to be a mere variety. The stigma is capitate. 



The real F. AUionii, as I have often in vain represented, is a 

 totally distinct exotic species, with perfectly smooth, thick, 

 rigid leaves ; blunt, dense, long-stalked clusters, of nearly ses- 

 sile, deep-blue flowers, characterized essentially by a simple, 

 abrupt, not capitate, stigma, 



V. officinalis is recommended as a sort of medicinal tea, and Simon 

 Paulli, an old Danish botanist, contended it was the identical 

 tea of China. The flavour is astringent and bitter, by no means 

 agreeable j perhaps most resembling common black tea. 



1 1 . V. hirsuta. Little Hairy Speedwell. 



Clusters lateral; partial stalks shorter than their bracteas. 

 Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, somewhat serrated, slightly 

 hairy. Stems ascending. Capsule abrupt, undivided. 



