SCUOIUIULARIACE^E. 159 



SPECIES X.— VERONICA ALPINA. Linn. 



Plate DCCCCLXXX. 



Jlekh. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XX. Tab. MDCXVt Figs. 1, 2, 3. 

 Billot, Fl. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. 2721. 



Perennial. Stem wiry, decumbent but scarcely rooting at the 

 base, tben erect, brancbed only at tbe base ; brandies erect or 

 ascending. Leaves equally distributed over tbe stem and brandies, 

 those in tbe middle of the stem largest, oval, obtuse, entire or 

 faintly denticulate-serrate ; tbe lower ones shortly stalked, the 

 rest sessile. Bracts narrowly elliptical or strapsbaped, or the lower 

 ones sometimes oval-elliptical, generally opposite. Flowers few, in 

 a short dense raceme, remaining compact in fruit. Pedicels erect, 

 shorter than the bracts, but nearly equal to the calyx. Sepals 

 elliptical, subacute, ciliated with long jointed hairs without glan- 

 dular tips. Capsule nearly twice as long as the calyx, obovate- 

 oval, compressed, emarginate, with prominent veins, glabrous ; 

 lobes approximate, separated by a very indistinct notch. Style 

 one-fourth as long as the capsule. Seeds nearly flat on the inner 

 face. Plant glabrous, except the upper part of the stem, pedicels, 

 margins of the leaves, bracts, and sepals, which are clothed with 

 jointed hairs not tipped by glands. 



By the sides of rills on mountains. Bare. On Ben Lomond, 

 Stirlingshire ; Breadalbane Mountains, Perthshire (where, however, 

 I could not find it) ; Moray ; Ben Nevis, and Badenoch Mountains, 

 Inverness-shire ; and more plentifully on the Clova Mountains, 

 Forfarshire ; and Loch-na-Gar, Glen Callater, and Brsernar, Aber- 

 deenshire. 



Scotland. Perennial. Late Summer and Autumn. 



Stems 3 to 8 inches high, not rooting above the point where 

 the leaves commence. Leaves few, ^ to 1 inch long. Corolla \ inch 

 across, dark-blue. The flowers at first almost sessile and in a head, 

 but in fruit forming a short dense raceme. Bracts, sepals, and 

 capsule often tinged with dull-blue. Capsule \ inch long, with a 

 very slight notch. Plant dark-green, turning black in drying. 



The more erect and wiry stems, fewer leaves, and differently 

 shaped capsule, distinguish this from V. humifusa. 



Erect Alpine Speedwell. 



French, Veronique des Alpes. German, Gebirgs Ehrenpreia. 



