V £ R 



V E R 



— Flowers folitary, (talked. Leaves oppofite, ovate, flightly 

 crenate ; lower ones oppofite, partly ftalkcd ; upper feffile, 

 alternate, entire. Stem erect. Style about as long as the 



lobes of the capfule Native of France, Italy, Turkey, 



and, as it is reported, of Germany ; though we have never 

 received from that country any thing but arnyenfts or precox 

 under this name. In (hady neglefted garden walks, and gra- 

 velly ground, about Rome, nothing is more common than this 

 little annual, flowering in April. What Mr. Davall fent to 

 Kew for acinifolia, in 1788, was certainly the pmcox. The 

 prefent is by far the molt delicate and flender plant of the 

 two, though nearly of the fame height. Leaves fmoother, 

 paler, ovate, and much more entire. Flowers much fmaller, 

 on rather longer, more capillary, (talks. Segments of the 

 calyx ovate, or obovate. Capfule fhort, broadly obcordate, 

 with round diftant lobes, between which the permanent _^^/c 

 is fituated, fcarcely, if at all, extending beyond them. Seeds 

 numerous, oval, flat. The authors of the fplendid, but too 

 foon difcontinued, Flore Parifienne, have well diitinguifhed 

 thefe two laft fpecies, by the proportion of the Jly/es to their 

 refpeftive, very differently (haped, capfules. It is curious 

 to obferve how authors have erred and copied each other's 

 errors, in their citation of Boccone. See Linna;us, Willde- 

 now, Vahl, and Poiret in Lamarck. 



85. V . peregrina. Purflane-leaved Speedwell. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 20. Willd. n. 55. Vahl n. 68." Ait. n. 38. Sm. 

 Tr. of Linn. Soc. v. i. 192. Purfli n. 9. Fl. Dan. t. 407. 

 (V. romana ; Linn. Sp. PI. 19. Mant. 317. V. mari- 

 landica ; Linn. Sp. PI. 20. " Murr. in Comm. Goett: for 

 17*2. II. t. 3." V. caroliniana ; Walt. Carolin. 61. V. 

 terreltris annua, folio polygoni, flore albo ; Morif. v. 2. 322. 

 feft. 3. t. 24. f. 19.) — Flowers folitary, feflile. Leaves 

 oblong, fmooth, obtufe, toothed or entire ; the lower ones 

 oppofite. Stem erett. Style (Korter than the lobes of 

 the capfule — Native of cultivated ground in feveral parts 

 of Europe, Britain excepted, as well as of North America, 

 Lima, and the Brazils, flowering in fummer. The root 

 is annual. Herb very variable in habit and fize, fometimes 

 partly decumbent ; it is branched from the bafe, fmooth in 

 every part, rather fucculent, vaftly more like Purflane, tlian 

 any fpecies of Polygonum. Leaves an inch or more in 

 length, for the moil part feffile, fome of them coarfely and 

 diilantly toothed, the upper or floral ones generally entire. 

 Flowers nearly or quite feffile. Segments of the calyx ob- 

 long, bluntifli, a little unequal. Corolla fmall, white. 

 Capfule inverfely heart-fliaped, with a very fhort Jlyle, not 

 reaching quite fo far as the lobes. Seeds numerous, fmall, 



oval, flat Linnaaus was Angularly unfortunate with refpeft 



to this fpecies and the acinifolia. His original fpecimcn of 

 J^. romana, anfwering to the character, as well as the num- 

 ber, in Sp. PI. ed. i, is, notwithfl;anding Vahl's doubts, 

 precifely the fame as his peregrina, of which a third fpecimen 

 IS marked acinifolia ; but this lall fpecimen is not an original 

 one. The fynonyms oi romana are properly referred in Sp. 

 PI. ed. 2. to acinifolia, io that the I.,innaean romana is to be 

 entirely excluded. Whetlier the V. ereda acini folio glabro, 

 Jloribus e^ruleis, DHL Gijf. app. 39, be the acinifolia, as com- 

 monly fvippofed, or the pmcox, we have fome doubts. V. 

 marilandica, adopted from Gronoviuj, is univerfally allowed 

 to be t}ae peregrina, which therefore embraces three Linnsan 

 fpecies, none of them entitled to rank even as varieties of 

 each other. 



Veronica, in Gardening, comprifes plants of the her- 

 baceous, perennial, and (hrubby kinds, among which the 

 fpecies cultivated are, the Siberian fpeedwell (V. fibirica) ; 

 the Virginian fpeedwell (V. virginica) ; the baltard fpeed- 

 well (V. fpuria); the fea fpeedwell (V. maritima) ; the 

 long-leaved fpeedwell f V. longifolia) ; the Welfli fpeedwell 



(V. hybrida) ; the cut-leaved fpeedwell (V. incifa) ; and 

 the crofs-leaved fpeedwell (V. decuflata). 



In the fecond fort the Items are terminated by long flender 

 fpikes of white flowers, which appear late in July ; and it 

 varies with the blufli-coloured flowers. The third is peren- 

 nial in root, having the fl:ems terminated by long fpikes of 

 blue flowers, wliich appear in June and July. A variety of 

 this has a flefh-coloured flower. The fourth has the ftalks 

 of lefs length than thofe of the preceding, but the flowers 

 are of a bright blue, and appear in July. There are varieties 

 with leaves oppofite, in threes or in fours, wdth blue, blueifli, 

 flefh-coloured, and with white flowers. The fifth has the 

 items a foot and a half high, which are terminated by long 

 fpikes of blue flowers, which appear in June. The fixth 

 has very white and woolly ftalks about a foot high, the 

 flowers of which are deep blue in terminating fpikes. A 

 variety has white flowers. The laft fort is a bufliy ftirub, 

 about two feet in height. 



Method of Culture. — Thefe plants may be raifed by feed 

 and parting the roots. In the annual forts the feeds fhould 

 be fowii in the autumn, or very early fpring, in the borders 

 or places where the plants are to grow, being lightly covered 

 in : if the feeds be permitted to icatter, good plants may be 

 raifed : fometimes they are fown on beds, to be afterwards 

 removed. In the perennial forts the roots may be parted 

 in the autumn or early fpring, and planted out where they 

 are to grow, or in nurfery rows to be afterwards removed. 

 They fhould not be parted too fmall, or oftener than every 

 two years : the large-growing forts are proper for the bor- 

 ders, clumps, &c. and the traihng kinds for banks and (hady 

 flopes, or other fimilar places : they are hardy, and require 

 only to be kept clean afterwards. The eighth fort is readily 

 increafed by cuttings in the fpring and fummer, being ma- 

 naged as a hardy greenhoufe plant, in the fame way as the 

 myrtle. In very mild winters it fometimes ftands iecure 

 in the open air. The annual and perennial forts afford 

 variety in the borders, clumps, and other parts of pleafure- 

 grounds, and the laft among plants of the hardy potted 

 greenhoufe kinds. 



Veronica, in the Materia Medica. The Beccabunga was 

 formerly ufed in feveral difeafes, and applied externally to 

 wounds and ulcers ; but its fuppofed efficacy muft depend on 

 its antifcorbutic quality. As a mild refrigerant juice, it is 

 deemed ferviceable in an acrimonious ftate of the fluids ; and 

 it is ordered in the Lond. Ph. as an ingredient in the fuccus 

 cochliarix compofitus. Its benefit depends on taking the 

 juice in large quantities, or eating the frefli plant as food. The 

 leaves of the officinalis have a weak, not difagreeable, fmell, 

 and a bitterifli tafte : an extraft from them by reftified 

 fpirit is moderately bitter and aftringent. About a century 

 ago, this plant was much recommended as a fubftitute for 

 tea : as a medicine, it had confiderable reputation in coughs, 

 afthmas, confumptions, &c. ; but, as it is a lefs powerful 

 aftringent than many others, it is now difregarded. Lewis. 

 Woodville. 



VKRONUS, in Ichthyology, a name given by many to a 

 fmall river-fifh, well known in England by the name of the 

 mino'w. 



VEROVITZA, in Geography, a town of Sclavonia. 

 This is a ftrong town, fituated near the Drave ; 36 miles 

 S.S.E. of Camfcha. 



VERPILLIERE, La, a town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Ifcre ; j miles S.E. of Lyons. 



VERPLANK's Point, a fortified fpot in the ftate 

 of New York, on the left bank of Hudfon's river, in Weft 

 Chefter county, which was taken, in 1779, by the Britifh 

 troops ; 34 miles N. of New York. N. lat. 41° 15'. W. 

 long^ 74". 



VERRANA, 



