294 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



placed (the pipes "being-, as a rule, equally distriLuf ed 

 throughout), the dry air from them soon injures 

 them, and their foliage shrivels and dies. In fact, 

 the dry air of dwelling-rooms is their worst fault so 

 far as plant-life is concerned, and cultivators know 

 well that but for the light and heat and moisture 

 they are able to command in such structures, glass- 

 houses would be no better than dwelling-rooms. 

 Another point is that the higher the stand is for 

 plants in a room the worse for the plants, as the 

 nearer to the ceiling the hotter and drier and more 

 vitiated the air is ; for in dwelling-rooms it is rarely 

 any adequate outlet is provided for the foul air to 

 escape. Room plants should therefore be set as near 

 the floor-line as possible, and when they ai-e tall they 

 look much better set low than high, and are better 

 seen. They also receive the rays of the sun better 

 through the window. 



" During the night the room fires should be allowed 

 to burn quite out, so that the room may be cooled 

 before morning, and if it can be ventilated at the 

 same time, all the better. As a rule the first thing 

 done in the morning is to open the doors or windows 

 wide, no matter how cold or windy it may be, and 

 the plants are injured by cold or draughts ; the ill- 

 effects of this they soon show, and it is at once 

 put down to the gas, which had really nothing to do 

 with it." 



COMMON GAEDEN FLOWEES. 



Speedwell (Veronica). — ^Tliis is a somewhat com- 

 prehensive genus, and includes green-house herba- 

 ceous plants, and evergreen shrubs, hardy annuals, 

 hardy aquatics, and a large group of hardj^ 

 perennials. Some of the former are natives of New 

 Zealand, and are sufiiciently hardy for the south and 

 west coasts, and are very ornamental in early spring. 

 V. speciosa, V. salicifolla, and V. macrocarpa are the 

 parents of the beautiful hybrids, with white, blue, 

 purple, red, and crimson flowers, including V. Andcr- 

 soni, versicolor, Lindleyana, Kermesina, Sec. A species 

 named V. Tr aver si, with handsome evergreen foliage, 

 is an excellent plant for conservatory decoration 

 during the winter and spring months. 



The name Speedwell is given to a common British 

 plant of the hedgerows, named Veronica Chamcedrys, 

 also known as the Germander Speedwell, or Wild 

 Germander, which is regarded as a corruption of its 

 Greek-derived name, chmmn, " on the ground," and 

 drys, "a tree," and alludes to the form and trailing 

 habit of many of the species. It is said that Speed- 

 w^ell is derived from its corolla falling off and flying 

 away as soon as it is gathered, " Speedwell " being- 

 equivalent to " Farewell," " Good-bye," and a com- 



mon form of valediction in old times. " Forget-me- 

 not," a name that has since passed to a Myosoti-s, 

 appears to have first been given to this plant, and 

 addressed to its fleeting flowers. The common 

 Speedwell is a perennial, frequenting pastures, hedges, 

 and meadows, and bears during May and June bright 

 blue flowers. Its flowers only expand in drv' weather, 

 and so beautiful are they as well to deserve Phillips's 

 epithets of " the celestial bird's-eye blossom." 

 The derivation of the generic name, Veronica, is 

 open to some speculation ; it is considered by some 

 to be an appellation derived from vera (Latin) and 

 ico)t (Greek), and signifying " true image." Some 

 consider that it was named after Veronica, the saint 

 of the Roman Calendar ; or from the Greek phero, " to 

 bring," and 7tike, "victory"; because some species were 

 efiBcacious medicines. V. C'liam(cdrys is a well-known 

 road-side plant, flowering freely in ]May, and scarcely 

 any passer-by could leave unnoticed the charming 

 blue flowers. Its leaves, in Sweden and some parts of 

 Germany, have been used as a substitute for Tea, and 

 for that j)mpose are said to be more grateful and less 

 astringent than the leaves of Veronica officinalis, which 

 have been used for the same purpose. This is also a 

 common plant, inhabiting di-y banks. It seems to 

 have been so good an imitation of the Cliina Tea 

 that Simon Pauli, an old Danish botanist, contended 

 that they were identically the same. In his book on 

 "Plant Lore, Legends and Lyrics," Mr. R. Folkard 

 gives this curious legend concerning the Speedwell : 

 — " When our Saviour was on His way to Mount 

 Calvary, bearing His cross, he passed by the door of 

 Veronica, a compassionate woman, who beholding 

 with pity the Lord's distressed condition, and the 

 drops of agony on His brow, wiped His face with 

 a kerchief or napkin, and the features of the 

 Redeemer remained miraculously impressed upon the 

 linen. The kerchief itself was styled the Sudarium, 

 and from some resemblance of the blossom of the 

 Germander Speedwell to this saintly relic, bearing 

 the features of Christ, the plant received the name of 

 Veronica." 



Of the hardy perennial Veronicas there is a large 

 group, and we wdll now pass in review a few of the 

 best and most showy of them. V. alpina is the 

 Alpine Speedwell, an evergreen herb with a creeping 

 habit, flowering in early summer, colour blue varying 

 to pale pink. It is a native of the great mountain 

 chains of Europe, Asia, and America, and is to be 

 found on some of the higher Scotch mountains. It 

 is well adapted for the rockwork, also for gardens. 

 V. amethystina is a native of the South of Europe, 

 a very handsome border plant, twelve inches or so 

 in height, blooming in summer; the flowers of a 

 charming amethystine-blue, arranged in pyramidal 

 clusters, V. aiistriaca f7e»f<7ffl', and another variety 



