BLUE AND PURPLE FLOWERS 
Thyme-leaved Speedwell (Veronica serpyllijolia) . Fig- 
wort family. May to August. 
A branching perennial, a few inches to eight inches high, 
rising from a prostrate, branching base. The little flowers, 
pale blue with darker stripes, are in terminal racemes. The 
corolla, like that of the other veronicas, has a short tube ending 
in four more or less irregular lobes. The two stamens are 
inserted in the tube of the corolla, and project beyond it (ex- 
serted). The oblong to egg-shaped leaves are wavy-toothed, 
the lowest with stalks and rounded. Common in the grass of 
moist roadsides and fields. 
Marsh Speedwell {Veronica scutellata). Figwort family. 
May to September. 
A delicate, sometimes reclining perennial, with small light- 
blue flowers, few. in raceme, on thread-Hke stalks, from the 
axils; corolla with four lobes; stamens two. The leaves 
are long and slender, very sparingly toothed, clasping. Wet 
places. 
Common Speedwell {Veronica officinalis. Figwort 
family. May to August. 
A perennial with hairy stem lying on the groimd, but erect 
at the end, less than a foot in length. The small light-blue 
flowers are in long raceriies rising from the axils of the leaves; 
corolla four-lobed; stamens two. The leaves are short-stalked, 
oblong to inversely egg-shaped, obtuse, toothed. Hills and 
woods. 
It has been suggested that the generic name was from a 
fancied resemblance to the face of Jesus, imprinted on the 
handkerchief with which St. Veronica wiped off the sweat and 
blood on his way to be crucified. 
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