FIG-WORT TRIBE 217 



12. MiMULUs (Monkey -flow w) 



I. M. lutcus (Yellow Monkey-flower). — Stems hollow, about a foot 

 high, shortly creeping ; leaves ovate, toothed, smooth ; flowers 

 large, yellow, often marked inside with reddish spots. A pretty 

 plant, with showy yellow flowers. Native £>f North America, and 

 not uncommonly found naturalized by streams and in marshy 

 meadows. The cultivated garden varieties are often very hand- 

 somely spotted and blotched with red-brown. — Fl. June to Sep- 

 tember. Perennial. 



13. Veronica [Speedwell) 



1. V. spicata (Spiked Speedwell). — Stems erect, about 6 inches 

 high, woody below ; leaves roundish, downy ; flowers in a dense 

 spike, bright blue or pale pink ; petals narrow. Chalk downs in 

 Suffolk and Cambridge ; rare. — Fl. July. Perennial. 



2. V. saxatilis (Rock Speedwell). — Steins 4-5 inches high, slender, 

 woody ; leaves entire, oblong, .small, and tough ; flowers large, 

 Ijrilliant blue, in a short panicle ; capsules egg-shaped. Almost the 

 entire plant is glabrous. A rare species, found only on one or two 

 mountains in Scotland. — Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



V. fruticulosa (Flesh-coloured Speedwell) is a variety of V. saxa- 

 tilis, with small pink flowers, and is extremely rare. 



3. V. Alpina (Alpine Veronica). — A slightly hairy little plant, 

 with simple, ascending stems, 2-5 inches high (not woody), bearing 

 leaves a little larger than in V. serpyllifolia, and a crowded raceme of 

 4 or 5 deep blue flowers with very short styles. A rare species, 

 foimd only near the summits of the Highland mountains. — Fl, July, 

 August. Perennial. 



4. V. serpyllifolia (Thyme-leaved Veronica). — A small plant, 

 with branched, prostrate, or slightly ascending stems ; smooth, egg- 

 shaped, or elliptical, slightly notched leaves, nearly sessile, and less 

 than half an inch in length. The flowers, which grow in somewhat 

 crowded spikes, are small, very light blue, and striped with dark 

 blue veins. Capsules inversely heart-shaped, with a long style. 

 Waste ground ; common. — Fl. May to July. Perennial. 



A somewhat downy variety, with rather larger flowers, is found 

 high up in the Scotch mountains, and is apt to be taken for a dis- 

 tinct species. 



5. V. officinalis (Common Speedwell). — A hairy plant v/ith pros- 

 trate stems, rooting at the nodes, varying from 2-6 inches in length ; 

 leaves oblong, serrated, astringent, sometimes made into tea ; 

 flowers rather small, pale blue, in hairy, axillary spikes or racemes. 

 Heaths and dry pastures ; common. — Fl. Maj? to August. Perennial. 



