Leaves opposite, sessile, rarely somewhat stalked, egg-shaped, 
strongly veined, wrinkled, deeply serrated, most hairy about the 
margin. Clusters ( Racemes ) axillary, generally opposite, simple, 
upright, long, pointed, many-flowered, rising above the stem, their 
stalk hairy all round. Flowers numerous, on slender pedicels (partial 
flower-stalks), with a spear-shaped bractea (floral-leaf) at the base 
of each. Divisions of the Calyx 4, spear-shaped, hairy, hairs tipped 
with a minute globule. Corolla transient, but very beautiful, ex- 
panding only in fine weather, bright blue, with darker streaks, and 
a white centre ; their outside pale and flesh-coloured. Capsule 
small, inversely heart-shaped, hairy round the edge, shorter than the 
calyx. Seeds flat, of a reddish brown colour J. — When this plant 
is cultivated in a garden, the leaves, especially the upper ones, often 
become elevated on foot-stalks, thus approaching Veronica montana, 
which it much resembles. — Mr. Borrer found a variety with 
white flowers, at Udimere, near Rye in Sussex. 
The plants which compose the Natural Order Scrophulari'ne.e 
are dicotyledonous, generally herbaceous, seldom shrubs, with op- 
posite, sometimes alternate, leaves. Their inflorescence various. 
They have an inferior, monosepalous, divided, permanent calyx. A 
monopetalous, hypogynous ‘(inferior), usually irregular, deciduous 
corolla, with an imbricated aestivation. Two or 4 stamens ; when 4, 
2 of them are longer than the other 2 (didynamous), very seldom 
equal. The ovarium ( germen J is superior, of 2 cells, with many 
seeds in each ; the style is simple, and terminated by a 2-lobed 
stigma. The fruit is a 2-celled capsule, (very rarely a berry), with 
from 2 to 4 valves, which are either entire or bifid ; the dissepiment 
(partition) is either double, arising from the incurved margins of 
the valves ; or simple, and in that case either parallel with, or oppo- 
site to, the valves. The placenta ( receptacles of the seed) are cen- 
tral, and are either united to the dissepiment, or separate from it. 
The seeds are numerous, and contain, under their proper integument, 
a kernel, composed of a fleshy albumen (a white, farinaceous, fleshy 
substance, destined to nourish the embryo of the seed), which en- 
closes a straight cylindrical embryo, having its radicle (root-let) 
turned towards the hilum (scar). — See Lindl. Syn. and Rich, by 
Macgilliv. — Veronica is the only British Genus in this order that 
has only 2 stamens. 
i This beautiful little plant is one of the principal ornaments to our hedge- 
hanks in the months of May and .Tune. It is often mistaken for the real German 
Forget-me-not, (Myositis palustrisj hut differs Irom that in having only 
2 stamens instead of 5 ; in tlie corolla being wheel-shaped, with 4 unequal seg- 
ments, instead of salver-shaped, with 5 equal lobes. It differs also in its place 
of growth, which is generally on dry banks, or in woods ; while the real Forget- 
me-not is almost always found to grow near water, as on the margins of rivers, 
ponds, and watery ditches, or in wet boggy places. — Ur. Withering says the 
leaves are a better substitute for tea than those of Veronica officinalis, being 
more grateful and less astringent.— According to the observations of Linn/eus, 
cows and goats eat it, but horses, sheep, and swine refuse it. — At the end of 
Summer we often find globular cottony knobs, or galls, on this plant ; these are 
caused by a minute species of Cynips, or gall-fly, which punctures the plant, 
and then deposits its eggs in the substance of the stem. 
