ai8 COROLLIFLORiE 



6. V. anagallis (Water Speedwell). ^A smooth, erect plant, 6-18 

 inches high, sometimes rather fleshy ; leaves narrow, tapering, ser- 

 rated, sessile ; flowers small, pale blue or flesh-coloured, in opposite 

 axillary racemes. Streams and ditches, common. — Fl. June to 

 August. Perennial. 



7. V. beccabiinga (Brooklime). — A succulent plant about a foot 

 high, with elliptical, blunt, slightly seird^tedJeaves, and short axil- 

 lary, opposite clusters of small bright blue flowers ; stems rooting 

 at the base. Whole plant smooth. Brooks and ditches ; common. 

 — Fl. June to August. Perennial. 



8. V. scutellata (Marsh Speedwell). — Smooth, or sometimes 

 slightly downy ; leaves linear, slightly toothed ; clusters short, 

 alternate ; fruit-stalks bent back ; capsules flat, deeply notched. A 

 weak, straggling plant, well distinguished by its very narrow leaves 

 and large flat capsules. Flowers pale pink. Marshes ; not un- 

 common.^Fl. June to August. Perennial. 



g. V. montana (Mountain Speedwell). — Stem hairy all round ; 

 leaves stalked ; clusters few-flowered ; capsule flat, much longer 

 than the calyx. Approaching the last in habit, but well distin- 

 guished by the above characters and by its smaller light blue 

 flowers. Woods ; common. — Fl. May, June. Perennial. 



TO. V . chamcedrys (Germander Speedwell). — Stems with two 

 hairy, opposite lines ; leaves very shortly stalked, deeply serrated, 

 hairy ; clusters very long, axillary ; capsule shorter than the 4-cleft 

 calyx. A well-known plant, which under the popular names of 

 Blue Speedwell and Bird's-eye is a favourite with everyone. No 

 one can have walked in the country in sprihg without admiring its 

 cheerful bright blue flowers, but few perhaps have remarked the 

 singular pair of hairy lines which traverse the whole length of the 

 stem, shifting from side to side whenever they arrive at a fresh pair 

 of leaves. Hedge banks ; abundant. — Fl. May, June. Perennial. 



11. V. hederifolia (Ivy-leaved Speedwell). — A common weed, 

 with stalked 5 to 7-lobed leaves, and bearing in the axil of each leaf 

 a pale blue flower, the stalk of which is bent back when in fruit ; 



, sepals heart-shaped, fringed. The capsule is composed of 2 much- 

 swollen lobes, each of which contains 2 large black seeds. Waste 

 places ; common. — Fl. all the summer. Annual. 



12. V. agrestis (Field SpeedweU). — A common weed, with several 

 branched, prostrate stems and stalked, heart-shaped, deeply serrated 

 leaves, the lower ones of which are opposite, the upper alternate, 

 and in the axils of each of these is a smalLblue flower on a slender 

 pedicle nearly as long as the leaf. The capsule is composed of 2 

 swollen, keeled lobes, and each cell contains about 6 seeds. Waste 

 places ; very common. — Fl. all the summer. Annual. 



