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American Brooklime

Veronica Americana. Figwort Family.

Stem.--Smooth; reclining at base, then a erect; eight to fifteen inches high. Leaves-Mostly opposite; oblong; toothed. Flowers.--Blue; clustered in the axis of the leaves. Calyx.--Four-parted. Corolla.--Wheel-shaped; four-parted. Stamens.--Two. Pistil.--One.

Perhaps the prettiest of the blue Veronicas is the American brooklime. Its clustered flowers make bright patches in moist ground which might, at a little distance, be mistaken for beds of forget-me-nots. It blossoms from June till August, and is almost as common in wet ditches and meadow as its sister, the common speedwell, is in dry and open places. Some of the members of this genus were once believed to possess great medicinal virtues, and won for themselves in Europe the laudatory names of Honor and Praise.