[+][+] Capsule strongly flattened, several-seeded.
4. V. scutellàta, L. (Marsh Speedwell.) Smooth, slender and weak (6–12´ high); leaves sessile, linear, acute, remotely denticulate; racemes 1 or 2, very slender and zigzag; flowers few and scattered, on elongated spreading or reflexed pedicels; capsule very flat, much broader than long, notched at both ends or didymous.—Bogs, common. June–Aug. (Eu., Asia.)
5. V. officinàlis, L. (Common Speedwell.) Pubescent; stem prostrate, rooting at base; leaves short-petioled, obovate-elliptical or wedge-oblong, obtuse, serrate; racemes densely many-flowered; pedicels shorter than the calyx; capsule obovate-triangular, broadly notched.—Dry hills and open woods, N. Eng. to Mich., and southward. July. (Eu., Asia.)
V. Chamæ̀drys, L. Stem pubescent, at least in two lines, ascending from a creeping base; leaves subsessile, ovate or cordate, incisely crenate; racemes loosely-flowered; pedicels little longer than calyx; capsule triangular-obcordate.—Sparingly introduced into Canada, N. Y., and Penn. (Adv. from Eu.)
[*][*] Leaves opposite; flowers in a terminal raceme; the lower bracts leaf-like; capsules flat, several-seeded. Perennials (mostly turning blackish in drying).
6. V. alpìna, L. Stem branched from the base, erect, simple (2–12´ high); leaves elliptical, or the lowest rounded, entire or toothed, nearly sessile; raceme hairy, few-flowered, crowded; capsule obovate, notched.—Alpine summits of the White Mts. (Eu., Asia.)
7. V. serpyllifòlia, L. (Thyme-leaved Speedwell.) Much branched at the creeping base, nearly smooth; branches ascending and simple (2–4´ high); leaves ovate or oblong, obscurely crenate, the lowest petioled and rounded, the upper passing into lanceolate bracts; raceme loose; corolla whitish, or pale blue, with deeper stripes; capsule rounded, broader than long, obtusely notched.—Roadsides and fields, common; introduced and indigenous. May–July (Eu., Asia.)
[*][*][*] Annuals; floral leaves like those of the stem (or somewhat reduced), the flowers appearing to be axillary and solitary, mostly alternate; corolla shorter than the calyx.
[+] Flowers short-pedicelled; floral leaves reduced; corolla shorter than the calyx.
8. V. peregrìna, L. (Neckweed. Purslane Speedwell.) Glandular-puberulent or nearly smooth, erect (4–9´ high), branched; lowest leaves petioled, oval-oblong, toothed, thickish, the others sessile, obtuse; the upper oblong-linear and entire, longer than the almost sessile (whitish) flowers; capsule orbicular, slightly notched, many-seeded.—Waste and cultivated grounds, in damp soil; throughout U. S., and almost cosmopolite. April–June.