2o8 HARDY PERENNIALS 
the whole range of blues, purples, and mauves, with 
reds, pinks, and many pure whites. The flowering 
period of a representative collection of Veronicas 
may easily extend from April to October, and whilst 
the miniature prostrate forms make ideal carpeting 
plants, edgings, or rock-garden subjects, many of 
the taller varieties provide excellent spikes of 
flowers for cutting. Some of the shrubby types 
are not completely hardy, and should in order to 
obtain best results be grown as pot plants for the 
conservatory, the verandah, etc., but the herbaceous 
kinds are almost all of hardest constitution and 
rank among the easiest of plants to grow. It is 
rather unfortunate but not at all surprising that 
considerable confusion exists in regard to the nomen- 
clature of Veronicas, and many a sort masquerades 
under several names. The outward similarity of 
such species as longifolia, spicata, and virginica 
has led to their becoming sadly mixed, whilst 
synonymous names are all too common, spicata 
being frequently called brevifolia, incana having 
also such names as Candida and candidissima, 
whilst varieties of longifolia are often wrongly 
given specific rank, instances being elegans and 
verticillata. In the same way the plant so fre- 
quently listed as V. corymbosa should properly be 
classed as a variety of the species spicata, and so 
we might go on to point out similar errors ; but 
nevertheless there is sufficient charm in all the 
types and varieties to make the plants worth having 
