V. arvénsis, L. (Corn Speedwell.) Simple or diffusely branched (3–8´ high), hairy; lower leaves petioled, ovate, crenate; the uppermost sessile, lanceolate, entire; capsule inversely heart-shaped, the lobes rounded.—Cultivated grounds, Atlantic States to Tex., rather rare. (Nat. from Eu.)
[+][+] Flowers long-pedicelled in axils of ordinary leaves; seeds cup-shaped.
V. agréstis, L. (Field Speedwell.) Leaves round or ovate, crenate-toothed, the floral somewhat similar; calyx-lobes oblong; flower small; ovary many-ovuled, but the nearly orbicular and sharply notched capsule 1–2 seeded.—Sandy fields, N. Brunswick to La., near the coast. (Adv. from Eu.)
V. Buxbaùmii, Tenore. Leaves round or heart-ovate, crenately cut-toothed ({2/3}–1´ long); flower large (nearly ½´ wide, blue); calyx-lobes lanceolate, widely spreading in fruit; capsule obcordate-triangular, broadly notched, 16–24-seeded.—Waste grounds, rare in Atlantic States. (Adv. from Eu.)
V. hederæfòlia, L. (Ivy-leaved Speedwell.) Leaves rounded or heart-shaped, 3–7-toothed or lobed; calyx-lobes somewhat heart-shaped; flowers small; capsule turgid, 2-lobed, 2–4-seeded.—Shaded places, N. J., Penn., etc. April–June. (Adv. from Eu.)
17. BÚCHNERA, L. Blue-Hearts.
Calyx tubular, obscurely nerved, 5-toothed. Corolla salver-form, with a straight or curved tube and an almost equally 5-cleft limb, the lobes oblong or wedge-obovate, flat. Stamens 4, included, approximate in pairs; anthers one-celled (the other cell wanting). Style club-shaped and entire. Capsule 2-valved, many-seeded.—Perennial rough-hairy herbs (doubtless root-parasitic), turning blackish in drying, with opposite leaves, or the uppermost alternate; the flowers opposite in a terminal spike, bracted and with 2 bractlets. (Named in honor of I. G. Buchner, an early German botanist.)
1. B. Americàna, L. Rough-hairy; stem wand-like (1–2° high); lower leaves obovate-oblong, the others ovate-oblong to linear-lanceolate, sparingly and coarsely toothed, veiny; spike interrupted; calyx longer than the bracts, one third the length of the deep-purple corolla (1´ long).—Moist sandy ground, western N. Y. to Minn., and southward. June–Aug.
18. SEYMÈRIA, Pursh.
Calyx bell-shaped, deeply 5-cleft. Corolla with a short and broad tube, not longer than the 5 ovate or oblong nearly equal and spreading lobes. Stamens 4, somewhat equal; anthers approximate by pairs, oblong, 2-celled; the cells equal and pointless. Capsule many-seeded.—Erect branching herbs, with the general aspect and character of Gerardia, leaves mostly opposite and dissected or pinnatifid, the uppermost alternate and bract-like. Flowers yellow, interruptedly racemed or spiked. (Named for Henry Seymer, an English naturalist.)