VERONICA. 



fpuria ; Poit. et Turp. Parif. 19. t. 18. Lyfimacliia ca:ru- 

 k'O flore ; Cluf. Hiil. v. 2. 52. L. caerulea liortenfis ; Lob. 

 Ic. 344. Ger. Em. 477. f. 9. ) — Clufters terminal, with 

 nearly felTiIe flowers. Leaves ftalked, three in a whorl, un- 

 equally and Iharply ferrated. — Native of barren dry ground, 

 Bear the fea-coafl, in the north of Europe. Linnasus ob- 

 ferved it frequently on the confines of the Lapland Alps, 

 near the North fea, though no where more abundantly than 

 on the fea-coaft near Tornea. We muft take his plant as a 

 fixed point, by which to determme this much-confufed fpe- 

 cies ; which, though often feen in gardens, flowering in the 

 early part of fumnier, does not find a place in the Hort. 

 Keiu. The old wooden cut, which is the very fame in all 

 the old authors above cited, reprefents the Linnoean plant 

 mod perfeftly, even better than the plate of Fl. Dan., 

 whofe leaves are too broad, and too finely ferrated. The 

 root of V. marllima h perennial, and fomewhat creeping. 

 Stems two feet high, ereft, firaple, leafy, round below, 

 quadrangular above, finely downy, though occafionally 

 fmooth in a garden, the angles being the firft part that be- 

 comes fo. Leaves three or four in a whorl, on elongated 

 rather flender ftalks, fpreading and rather dependent, linear- 

 lanceolate, pointed, two and a half or three inches long, 

 copioufly, deeply, unequally, and very fharply ferrated, 

 either finely downy, or quite fmooth, on both fides ; ac- 

 companied by axillary tufts of a few linear, or awlfliaped, 

 fmall, ferrated leaves. Flo'Mers blue, in one large, central, 

 denfe (pike, accompanied by feveral furrounding fmaller ones, 

 from the bofoms of the uppermoft leaves, fometimes termi- 

 nating fmall branches. Calyx unequally four-cleft, narrow, 



longer than the tube of the corolla A fingular variety, as 



it is fuppofed, of this is defcribed in Linn. Amoen. Acad. 

 V. 3. 35. t. 2, by the name of V. fpuria, and preferved in 

 the Linnxan herbarium. The leaves are deeply and vari- 

 oufly pinnatifid and jagged ; Jlowers fmaller than ufual in 

 f^. maritima, and always barren. Linnseus conceived it to 

 be a mule, from tlie pollen of Verbena officinalis, which 

 grew near the Veronica maritima in his garden. We can 

 neither confirm nor difprovL- this opinion. The plant muft 

 not be confounded with V. fpuria, hereafter defcribed. 



Three dried fpecimens from Ehrhart's Herbn are before 

 us, V. glabra, n. i i ; nitida, n. 21 ; and elatior, n. 31. 

 The firft is confidered by Willdenow as the identical V. ma- 

 ritima, and indeed agrees well with V. reda citrulea. Bed . Ey ft . 

 vern. ord. 5. t. 10. f. 2. cited by C. Bauhin as the fame with 

 our maritima ; but the leaves are (horter and more ovate, wiih 

 far lefs taper ferratures than the Linnaean fpecimen, or the 

 authentic old wooden cuts ; being more of the ftiape of Fl. 

 Dan. t. 374, though with much broader ferratures. The 

 Jlem and leaves are very fmooth ; partial Jlower-Jlalks 

 elongated and flender, nearly fmooth ; tube of the corolla 

 about twice as long as the calyx, which laft feems an im- 

 portant diftinftion, fhould it prove conftant. — V. nitida, 

 Ehrh. n. 21, is the top of a large luxuriant plant, whofe 

 very Imooth leaves are oppofite, or aggregate, not diftinftly 

 whorled, though its lower ones perhaps might ; their form 

 broad-ovate, ftrongly and (harply ferrated, their length 

 one and a half en- two inches. CluJIers numerous and long ; 

 the partial Jlo-wer-Jlalhs a little downy, longer than the 

 calyx, whicli is full as long as the tube of the corolla. If 

 thefe characters may be depended on, as in other plants, the 

 two fpecimens in queftion muft be diftinCt from each other 

 and from maritima. V. elatior, n. 31, moft unaccountably 

 referred by Willdenow to longifolia, is more near maritima 

 than either of the others, having merely broader, and Kls 

 deeply ferrated, leaves, and agreemg as nearly with Fl. Dan. 

 t. 374, as a cultivated fpecimen ufually does with a wild one. 



Its injlorefcence and floivers precifely refemble thofe of the 

 Linnsan fpecimen of maritima. This is furely V, fpicata of 

 Rivin. Monop. Irr. t. 97. 



5. V. crenulata. Notch-flowered Speedwell. " HofFm. 

 P? ytogr. Bl'att. fafc. I. 95." Vahl n. 5. — " Leaves three 

 in a whorl, or oppofite, oblong-lanceolate, ferrated, downy 

 like the ftem. Corolla finely crenate." — A garden plant, 

 perennial, two feet high, with fcattered branches in the upper 

 part of the flcm. Lower leaves ftalked, oppofite, rarely 

 three together ; upper nearly feflile, alternate, pretty equally 

 and acutely ferrated. CluJIers hardly fix inches long. 

 Bradeas lanceolate. Calyx four-cleft, hair)' at the edge. 

 Corolla deep blue, hairy in the throat ; its fegments waved, 

 minutely crenate. Capfale roundifli-ovate, fmooth, of four 

 valves. Hf^mann, Vahl. We know nothing of this fpe- 

 cies, having feen no fpecimen anfwering to its name or 

 charafter. 



6. V. fpuria. Spurious Speedwell. Linn. Sp. PI. 13. 

 Willd. n. 3. Vahl n. 6. Gmel. It. v. i. 169. t. 39. (V. 

 fpicata anguftifolia ; Bauh. Pin. 246, Herb. Sherard. V. 

 refta vulgaris major ; Cluf. Hift. v. I. 347. V. refta her- 

 bariorum ; Lob. Ic. 473. V. alTurgens five fpicata; Ger. 

 Em. 628, according to C. Bauhin ; but the fame cut is in 

 Clufius, V. I. 346, who probably has the fame fpecies 

 twice.) — Leaves three in a whorl, or oppofite, on fliort 

 ftalks, lanceolate, equally ferrated, fomewhat downy ; con- 

 trafteJ at each end. Clufters lax. — Native of Siberia and 

 the fouth of Europe. About the ftature of the laft, but 

 l\\ejlem is round to the top ; leaves ftiorter, equally, though 

 ftrongly ferrated, on much fttorter Jlalks ; never more than 

 three in a whorl, often oppofite only. Calyx the length of 

 the tube. Vahl records an opinion of our leanjed friend 

 Dr. A. Afzelius, that this may be a three-leaved variety of 

 V. longifolia. Some botanifts of the fouth of Europe, from 

 whom we have fpecimens, have conceived the fame idea. 

 But the real longifolia is totally diftinft, as we (hall hereafter 

 (hew. 



7. V . paniculata. Panicled Speedwell. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 18. Willd. n.4S. Vahln.7. Ait. n. 31. (" V. dentata ; 

 Schmidt Bohem. v. i. 31." V. anguftifolia, floribus pani- 

 culatis ; Amm. Ruth. 24.) — Leaves ftalked, three in a 

 whorl, lanceolate, equally ferrated, fmooth. Stem amend- 

 ing, panicled with numerous fimple clufters — Native of Si- 

 beria, Tartary, and Bohemia. A hardy perennial in this 

 country, introduced by Mr. Hunnemann, in 1797, yet it 

 has never been (igured. The herbage is fmooth. Stem round, 

 not quite ereft. Leaves an inch or more in length, narrow, 

 acute, rather diftantly ferrated, on ftiortifti ftalks. CluJIers 

 lax, many-flowered, fmooth, on long, axillary, partly leafy, 

 ftalks, making a handfome terminal panicle. Floivers blue. 

 Vahl is certainly right in removing this fpecies to the pre fcnt 

 fcftion, near its moft natural aUics. It is, however, very 

 diftinft from the laft. 



8. V. complicata. Folded-leaved Speedwell. " Hoffm. 

 Phytogr. Blatt. fafc. I. 98." Vahl n. 8.— " Leaves 

 whorled, or oppofite, linear -lanceolate, folded, toothed ; 

 teeth thickened." — Native of Europe. Perennial. Stem 

 two feet high, crcft, flightly zigzag, round, downy in the 

 upper part ; the flowering branches nearly oppofite. Leaves 

 moftly oppofite, rarely three in a whorl, fpreading, re- 

 flexed ; the radical ones elliptical, fomewhat ho.-ury, un- 

 equ.illy toothed. Bradeas linear-lanceolate. Calyx four- 

 cleft, downy. Corolla blue, hairy in the throat. Capfuk 

 invcrfely heart-fliaped, fmooth, with four v.ilvcs. Hojfm. 

 Vahl. 



I). V. brevifolia. Short-leaved Speedwell. " Waldft. ct 

 Kitaib. Hung, t.— ." Marfch. a Bicberft. Taur.-Caucaf. 



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