Veronica.—Nat. Ord. Scrophulariaceæ.
SPEEDWELL.
(AMERICAN BROOKLIME.)
Veronica Americana.
“Flowers spring up and die ungathered.”
N the language of flowers the blossoms of the Veronica or Speedwell are said to mean undying love, or constancy, but the blossoms of the Speedwell are fugacious, falling quickly, and therefore, one would say, not a good emblem of endurance.
Sweet simple flowers are the wild Veronicas, chiefly inhabiting damp overflowed ground, the borders of weedy ponds and brooks, from whence the names of “Brooklime” and “Marsh Speedwell,” “Water Speedwell,” and the like. Some of the species are indeed found mostly growing on dry hills and grassy banks, cheering the eye of the passing traveller by its slender spikes of azure flowers, and this is often known by the pretty name of Forget-me-not, though it is not the true “Forget-me-not,” which is Myosotis palustris, also called “Scorpion-grass;” the derivation of which last name we should find it difficult to trace.
The subject of the elegant little flower on the right hand side of the plate is Veronica Americana—“American Brooklime”—one of the prettiest of the native Veronicas, and may easily be recognized by its branching spikes of blue flowers, and veiny, partially heart-shaped leaves.