One of these—the Thyme-leaved Speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia), is common in most waste places. It is a small plant, with a downy, prostrate stem from three to ten inches long. The leaves are broadly elliptical, slightly crenate, blunt, and somewhat leathery in nature. The flowers are about a quarter of an inch across, of a light blue or lilac colour, striped with dark blue veins; and appear from May to July. They are arranged in several spike-like, many-flowered racemes. The corolla tube is very short; the style long and persistent; and the fruits are inversely-cordate capsules.
The Crosswort.
The Common Speedwell (V. officinalis) is a small plant, with hairy, prostrate stems from two to ten inches in length. It is common in dry places. The leaves are opposite, elliptical, serrate, with short stalks. The pale blue flowers, which are only about a sixth of an inch in diameter, are in many-flowered, axillary, spike-like racemes. The capsules are of the same form as in the last species, but are deeply notched. This species flowers from May to July.
The Germander Speedwell (Veronica Chamædrys) is one of our most beautiful and most abundant spring flowers. It is very common on banks and by roadsides, flowering during May and June. Its stem is weak, decumbent, rooting at the base, often considerably more than a foot in length, and remarkable for the line of hairs that changes to alternate sides at each node. A raceme of flowers, much longer than the leaves, arises from several of the nodes. The flowers are bright blue, about half an inch in diameter, with a four-cleft calyx; a deeply four-cleft corolla, the lower lobe of which is narrowest; and two prominent stamens. The fruit is a very broad, flat capsule, notched at the top, narrowed towards the base, splitting into two valves when ripe.
The Colt's-Foot in Early Spring.
The Germander Speedwell.
A fourth species, the Wall Speedwell (V. arvensis), is abundant on walls and dry roadsides. It is a prostrate, downy plant, generally more or less thickly covered with dust, flowering from April to about the end of summer. The stem is from four inches to a foot in length, and two lines of hairs run along the branches. The leaves are oval-cordate, crenate, and slightly stalked. The flowers are very small and inconspicuous, and are frequently almost completely hidden by the crowded upper leaves. They have very short corolla-tubes, and are arranged in loose, terminal, spikelike racemes.