‘ 
‘Th BRITISH HERBAL 
9 e 
2. Little, hairy Speedwell. © 
Veronica mas Jupina et vulgatifima. 
This is a fmall /peedwell, as common in our paf- 
tures as the other, and like it, often called ‘by the 
common but improper name of fuellin: this con- 
founds it with another genus, from which it is 
very diftinét; as does alfo the common way of 
fpeaking, with the former, but they differ widely. 
The root of this is compofed of a multitude 
of flender fibres, joined to a fmall head. 
The flalks that firft fhoot from it trail upon 
the ground, and take root at their lower fide, by 
which méans the plant preféntly fpreads into a 
large tuft. 
From thefé procumbent fhoots rife the ftalks 
which bear the flowers, as do alfo fome from 
the root. 
They are flendet, weak, round, and of a pale 
green, five inches long, and, ufually, in part 
ere€t, and in part leaning. 
The leaves grow in pairs: they are oblong; 
broad, deeply ferrated, and fharp-pointed : they 
have fhort footftalks, and they are of a pale 
green, and flightly hairy. 
The flowers ftand in long, flendet fpikes at the 
tops of the branches, and are of a beautiful blue, 
fmall but very confpicuous. 
Under thefe fpikes there frequently grow fome 
narrow leaves, unlike thofe on the reft of the ftalk. 
The feed-veffel is flatted ahd heattfafhioned, 
and the feeds até numerous and fhiall. 
This is very common in dry paftures, and 
flowers in June: 
C. Bauhine calls it Verortiea mas fupina et oulga- 
tffiia: J. Bauhine, Veronica wulgatior folio ro- 
tundiore. 
We call it Common fpeediell, male [peedwell, 
and male fluellin. If we would call it dztle, hairy 
fpeedwell, there would be no confufion. 
There is the more reafon to afcertain this fpe- 
cies by fome déterminaté Englifh name, in that 
it is fuppofed to poffefs the greateft virtue of any 
Speedwell. , 
There was an opinion very lately, that it was 
a cure for the gout, and the leaves, picked and 
dryed, fold for three or four fhillings a pound. 
‘The people who deal in them adulterated them 
with thofe of the gemander-leaved /peedwell, to be 
defcribed hereafter, and by that means they loft 
their credit, before it was found whether there 
were any foundation for the opinion of this great 
efficacy or not. 
A decoétion of the whole plant is a powerful 
diuretick and deobftruent : itis good in jaundices 
and the beginning of dropfies. 
A flighter tinéture of it, drawn by infufion, 
is a fudorifick, and good in fevers, 
Its juice, boiled into a fyrup with honey, ig excel- 
lent in afthmas and other diforders of the lungs ; 
and ufed outwardly, in form of an ointment, it is 
_ good againft the itch and other cutaneous dif. 
orders. 
The decoction of it made very ftrong, and 
given as a glyfter with the common additions of 
oil and fugar, is of prodigious efficacy in the tor- 
menting pains of the nephritick cholick. 
An infufion of the leaves, drank in the man- 
ner of tea, is greatly recommended as a provo- 
Cative to venery, and a {trengthener : it has been 
called a cure for barrennefs, taken a long time 
in this manner, 
To thefe virtues we are to add, that it is placed 
foremoft by many writers in the clafs ef vul- 
neraries. i ; 
3. Germander-leaved Speedwell, 
Veronica chamedryos folio, 
The root is flender, and edged with fibres. 
The firft leaves are long; narrow, of a pale 
green, ferrated, fharp-pointed, and have no 
footftalks. 
The ftalks rife in the centre, and the leaves 
foon after fade. d : 
They are flender and weak, but tolerably up- 
right, and fix or eight inches high. 
The leaves ftand in pairs, and are like thofe 
from the root, but fhorter and broader : they are 
of a pale green, fharply ferrated, and fharp- 
pointed ; and they have no footftalks, 
The flowers ftand in long {pikes rifing from 
the bofoms' of the leaves; and they are of a very 
bright blue, large, and beautiful, 
The feed-veffels are heart-fafhioned, large, and 
flat. 
It is common in paftures, and flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Chamedrys Jpuria minor ro- 
tundifolia. Ray, Veronica chamadrys fylveftris 
difia, Others, Chamedrys fylveftris. 
Our commom péople call it Blue tinker. 
They give the juice of it to children as a te- 
medy for the rickets, and often with fuccefs, 
4. Short-leaved Germanderlike fpeedwell. 
Veronica chamedroyides foliis pediculis oblongis in- 
JSidentibus. 
The root is a fmall tuft of fibres. 1 
From this grow many fhoots, that trail upon 
the ground and take root in different places. 
The ftalks which fupport the fowers rife partly 
from thefe, and partly from the root: they are 
flender, weak, but imperfectly ereét, and ten or 
twelvé inches high. 
The leaves ftand in pairs, and do not grow to 
the ftalk by their bafe, as in the laft fpecies, but 
ftand on moderately long footftalks; and thefe, 
and the mainftalks alfo, are a little hairy: the 
leaves are fhort, broad, and dentated, of a dufky 
green, and a little hairy. 
The flowers ftand on footftalks rifing from the 
bofom of the leaves in a kind of loofe fpikes, 
four, five, or fix in each fpike: they are fmall, 
and of a faint blue; 
The feed-veffel is broad, flat, and heart-fathion- 
ed at the end. : 
It is common in our woods, and flowers ia 
Auguft. 
C. Bauhine calls it Chamedrys rotundifolia Jia- 
tellata., Ray, Veronica chamédrayides foliis pedi- 
culis oblongis infidéntibus. Columna, Abffon. 
Diofcoridis, Montanum. Our Englith writers 
calh it Mountain madwort. 
It is pretended that the juice is good againft 
madnefs, but there is no authority for ig. 
5: Ivy 
