220 KEY AND FLORA 
1. G. virginiana L. Stem cylindrical, 4—10 in. long, branching from 
the base. Leaves 3-1} in. long, varying from lance-oblong to spatu- 
late. Corolla pale yellow, tinged with red. Common in muddy soil, 
along brooksides, etc. 
VI. VERONICA L. 
Herbs or shrubs. Lower leaves or all the leaves opposite, 
rarely whorled. Flowers in axillary or terminal racemes, rarely 
solitary. Calyx usually 4-parted. Corolla wheel-shaped or some- 
what bell-shaped ; limb usually 4-cleft, spreading, the side lobes 
commonly narrower. Stamens 2, inserted on the corolla tube 
at the sides of the upper lobe, projecting. Stigma somewhat 
knobbed. Capsule generally flattened, often notched at the 
apex, 2-celled, few—many-seeded. 
1. V. americana Schwein. Brooxurms. A perennial, smooth herb, 
somewhat prostrate below but the upper parts of the stem erect, 
8-15 in. high. Leaves 1-2 in. long, lance-ovate or oblong, serrate, 
short-petioled. Racemes 2-4 in. long, axillary and opposite. Corolla 
wheel-shaped, blue. Capsule swollen, roundish. Muddy soil about 
springs and brooks. 
2. V. officinalis L. Common SprEDWELL, Gypsy Werp. Peren- 
nial. ' Roughish- -downy, with the prostrate stems spreading and root- 
ing. 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. Dry 
hillsides, open woods and fields. 
3. V. serpyllifolia L. Tuymr-LeEavep SrPEEDWELL. Perennial; 
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. Cap- 
sule inversely heart-shaped, its width greater than its length. Damp, 
grassy ground; a common weed in lawns. 
4. V. peregrina L. Purstane SpeepweLyi. A homely, rather 
fleshy, somewhat erect-branched annual weed, 4-9 in. high. Lowest 
leaves petioled, oblong, somewhat toothed ;. those above them sessile, 
the uppermost ones broadly linear and entire. Flowers solitary, in- 
conspicuous, whitish, barely pediceled, appearing to spring from 
the axils of the small floral leaves. Corolla shorter than the calyx. 
Capsule roundish, barely notched, many-seeded. Common in damp 
ground, in fields and gardens. 
