DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 43 



b. (P. NYCTAGiNiFLORA), White Petunia. Tube of corolla 

 long and slender ; flowers white ; leaves somewhat petioled. Cul- 

 tivated from South America. This and the preceding species much 

 mixed by hybridization. 



SCROPHULARIACE^, FIGWOKT FAMILY. 

 Mostly herbs with irregular flowers. Calyx free from the 

 ovary and persistent. Corolla 2-lipped or otherwise more or 

 less irregular. Stamens usually 2 long and 2 short or only 2 

 in all, inserted on the corolla-tube, often 1 or 3 of them 

 imperfectly developed. Pistil consisting of a 2-celled and 

 usually many-ovuled ovary, with a single style and an entire 

 or 2-lobed stigma. 



I. VERONICA, SPEEDWELL. 



Calyx usually 4-parted. Corolla rather wheel-shaped, with 

 its limb generally somewhat irregularly 4-parted. Stamens 

 2, inserted on the corolla-tube and projecting beyond it. 

 Style 1 ; stigma 1. Capsule flattened, obtuse, notched or 

 inversely heart-shaped at the summit, 2-celled, generally few- 

 seeded. Mostly herbs with opposite or whorled leaves. 



a. (Y. officinalis), Common Speedwf.li,, Gypsy Weed. 

 Roughish downy, with the prostrate stems spreading and rooting ; 

 leaves wedge-oblong or nearly so, obtuse, serrate, somewhat petioled ; 

 racemes dense, of many pale bluish flowers ; capsule rather large, 

 inversely heart-shaped and somewhat triangular. Perennial. 



b. (V. seepyllifolia), Thyme-leaved Speedwell. Smooth 

 or nearly so ; branching and creeping below, but with nearly simple 

 ascending shoots, 2-4 in. high ; leaves slightly crenate, the lowest 

 ones petioled and roundish, those farther up ovate or oblong, the 

 uppermost ones mere bracts ; raceme loosely flowered ; corolla nearly 

 white or pale blue, beautifully striped with darker lines ; capsule 

 inversely heart-shaped, its width greater than its length. Perennial. 



c. (V. peregkina), Purslane Speedwell. A homely, rather 

 fleshy, somewhat erect-branched weed, 4-9 in. high ; the lowest leaves 

 petioled, oblong, somewhat toothed, those above them sessile, the 

 uppermost ones broadly linear and entire ; flowers solitary, incon- 

 spicuous, whitish, barely pediceled, appearing to spring from the 

 axils of the small floral leaves ; coroUa shorter than the calyx ; 

 capsule roundish, barely notched, many-seeded. Annual. 



