624 



THE SCROPHULAIUA FAMILY. 



latitudes. In Britain, only near the summits of the higher mountains 

 of Scotland, and not known in England or in Ireland. FL summer. 



4. Thyme-leaved Veronica. Veronica serpyllifolia, Linn. 



(Fig. 746.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1075.) 



Stems shortly creeping, very much 

 branched, forming a small, flat, dense, 

 leafy tuft ; the flowering branches as- 

 cending, 2 to 4 or 5 inches high. Leaves 

 nearly sessile, ovate, seldom half an inch 

 long, very slightly crenate, and usually 

 glabrous as well as the rest of the plant. 

 Flowers very small, of a pale-blue or 

 white, with darker streaks, sessile or 

 shortly stalked, in terminal spikes or 

 racemes ; but the bracts, especially the 

 lower ones, are rather large and leaf- 

 like, so as to give the inflorescence much 

 the appearance of that of the annual 

 Veronicas. Capsule broad, and often 

 rather deeply notched. 



In pastures, fields, and waste places, 

 in Europe and Russian and central Asia, 

 from the Mediterranean to the Arctic 



Circle, and ascending to high alpine summits. Abundant in Britain. 



FL spring and summer. A variety with slightly downy stems occurs 



occasionally in the Scotch mountains. 



Fig. 746. 



5. Common Veronica. Veronica officinalis, Linn. 

 (Fig. 747.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 4T65.) 



Stems perennial at the base, much branched, creeping, and rooting 

 at the nodes, extending sometimes to a foot or more, but usually about 

 half that length. Leaves obovate or oblong, toothed, and hairy. 

 Spikes or racemes like those of the preceding species, but hairy, and 

 they are axillary, not terminal; for although sometimes, proceeding 

 from the upper axils, they may appear terminal before the end of the 

 branch has grown out, yet they are never really so. Flowers nearly 



