Chapter M: LUTEUS, L. Erect or with later branches spreading; leaves ovate to

roundish or subcordate; corolla deep yellow, with brown-purple dots or blotches, often large.--Wet meadows, Norfolk, Ct. (Adv. from Calif.)

9. CONOBEA, Aublet.

Calyx 5-parted, equal. Upper lip of corolla 3-lobed, the lower 3-parted. Stamens 4, fertile; anthers approximate. Stigma 2-lobed, the lobes wedge-form. Seeds numerous.--Low branching herbs, with opposite leaves, and small solitary flowers on axillary peduncles. (Name unexplained.)

1. C. multifida, Benth. Annual, diffusely spreading, much branched, minutely pubescent; leaves petioled, pinnately parted, divisions linear-wedge-shaped; peduncles naked; corolla (greenish-white) scarcely longer than the calyx.--Along streams and shores, Ohio to Ill., Ark., and Tex.; also adv. below Philadelphia. July--Sept.

10. HERPESTIS, Gaertn. f.

Calyx 5-parted; the upper division broadest, the innermost often very narrow. Upper lip of the corolla entire, notched or 2-cleft, and the lower 3-lobed, or the limb nearly equally 5-lobed. Stamens 4, all fertile. Style dilated or 2-lobed at the apex. Seeds numerous.--Low herbs, with opposite leaves, and solitary axillary flowers; in summer; ours rather succulent perennials. (Name from [Greek: e(rpeste/s], _a creeping thing_, the species being chiefly procumbent.)

[*] _Corolla plainly bilabiate, the 2 upper lobes united to form the upper lip; leaves many-nerved._

1. H. nigrescens, Benth. Erect or ascending, very leafy, glabrous; leaves pinnately veined, oblong to cuneate-lanceolate (1--2' long), serrate; pedicels equalling and the upper surpassing the leaves; corolla whitish or purplish.--Wet places, Md. and N. C. to Tex., along and near the coast.

2. H. rotundifolia, Pursh. Nearly smooth, creeping; _leaves round-obovate, half-clasping_ (1/2--1' long), entire, basally nerved; _peduncles twice or thrice the length of the calyx_; upper sepal ovate; corolla white or pale blue.--Margins of ponds, Ill. to Minn., Mo., and southward.

3. H. amplexicaulis, Pursh. Stems hairy, creeping at base; _leaves ovate, clasping_, entire, basally nerved; _peduncles shorter than the calyx_; upper sepal heart-shaped; corolla blue.--Margin of pine-barren ponds, N. J. and Md. to La.--Aromatic when bruised.

[*][*] _Corolla obscurely bilabiate, the limb subequally 5-lobed; stamens almost equal._

4. H. Monniera, HBK. Glabrous, prostrate and creeping; leaves spatulate to obovate-cuneate, entire or somewhat toothed, nearly nerveless, sessile; corolla pale blue.--River-banks and shores near the sea, Md. to Tex.

11. LIMOSELLA, L. MUDWORT.

Calyx bell-shaped, 5-toothed. Corolla short, widely bell-shaped, 5-cleft, nearly regular. Stamens 4; anthers confluently 1-celled. Style short, club-shaped. Capsule globular, many-seeded; the partition thin and vanishing.--Small annuals, growing in mud, usually near the sea-shore, creeping by slender runners, without ascending stems; the entire fleshy leaves in dense clusters around the simple 1-flowered naked peduncles. Flowers small, white or purplish. (Name from _limus_, mud, and _sella_, seat.)

1. L. aquatica, L., var. tenuifolia, Hoffm. Leaves (with no blade distinct from the petiole) awl-shaped or thread-form.--Brackish river-banks and shores, Lab. to N. J., and far north and west. (Eu., Asia, etc.)

12. GRATIOLA, L. HEDGE-HYSSOP.

Calyx 5-parted, the narrow divisions nearly equal. Upper lip of corolla entire or 2-cleft, the lower 3-cleft. Fertile stamens 2, included, posterior; the anterior mere sterile filaments, or wanting. Style dilated or 2-lipped at the apex. Capsule 4-valved, many-seeded.--Low herbs, mostly perennials, some apparently annuals, with opposite sessile leaves, and axillary 1-flowered peduncles, usually with 2 bractlets at the base of the calyx. Flowering all summer; all inhabiting wet or damp places. (Name from _gratia_, grace or favor, on account of supposed excellent medicinal properties.)

Sec. 1. _Anthers with a broad connective, the cells transverse; stems mostly diffusely branched, or creeping at base, soft viscid-pubescent or smooth; corollas 4--6'' long; bractlets foliaceous, equalling the calyx._

[*] _Sterile filaments minute or none; corolla whitish, with the tube yellowish._

1. G. Virginiana, L. Stem clammy-puberulent above (4--6' high); leaves lanceolate with narrow base, acute, entire or sparingly toothed, _peduncles almost equalling the leaves_ (1/2--1' long); pod ovoid (2'' long).--Very common.

2. G. sphaerocarpa, Ell. Smooth, rather stout (5--10' high); leaves lance-ovate or oblong to oval-obovate (1--2' long), toothed; _peduncles scarcely longer than the calyx_ and the large (3'') globular pod.--N. J. and Md. to Ill., south to Fla. and Tex.

[*][*] _Sterile filaments slender, tipped with a little head; leaves short (1/2--1' long)._

3. G. viscosa, Schwein. _Clammy-pubescent or glandular; leaves ovate-lanceolate or oblong_, acute, toothed, mostly shorter than the peduncles; _corolla whitish, yellow within_.--Ky. to N. C. and Ga.

4. G. aurea, Muhl. _Nearly glabrous; leaves lanceolate or oblong-linear, entire_, equalling the peduncles; _corolla golden-yellow_ (1/2' long).--Sandy swamps, Vt. and N. H. to Ohio, and south to Fla.

Sec. 2. _Anthers with no broad connective, the cells vertical; sterile filaments tipped with a head; hairy apparently annual plants, with erect rigid and more simple stems._

5. G. pilosa, Michx. Leaves ovate or oblong, sparingly toothed, sessile (1/2' long); flowers nearly sessile; corolla white, 3--4'' long, scarcely exceeding the calyx.--Low ground, N. J. to Fla. and Tex.

13. ILYSANTHES, Raf.

Calyx 5-parted, nearly equal. Upper lip of corolla short, erect, 2-lobed; the lower larger and spreading, 3-cleft. Fertile stamens 2, included, posterior; the anterior pair sterile, inserted in the throat, 2-lobed, without anthers; one of the lobes glandular, the other smooth, usually short and tooth-like. Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule ovate or oblong, many-seeded.--Small and smooth annuals, with opposite leaves, and small axillary (purplish) flowers, on filiform naked pedicels, or the upper racemed, produced all summer. (Name from [Greek: i)ly/s], _mud_, or _mire_, and [Greek: a)/nthos], _flower_.)

1. I. riparia, Raf. (FALSE PIMPERNEL.) Much branched, diffusely spreading (4--8' high), or at first simple and erect, leafy; leaves ovate, rounded, or oblong, sparingly toothed or entire, the upper partly clasping; corolla 3'' long. (I. gratioloides, _Benth._)--Wet places; common.

14. MICRANTHEMUM, Michx.

Calyx 4-lobed or 4- (rarely 5-) parted. Corolla short, 2-lipped, with the upper lip considerably shorter than the lower, or 1-lipped, the upper lip obsolete; lower lip 3-cleft, the middle lobe longest. Stamens 2, anterior, the short filaments with a glandular (mostly basal) appendage; anthers 2-celled, didymous; no sterile filaments. Style short; the stigma 2-lobed. Capsule globular, thin, with a very delicate or evanescent partition, several--many-seeded.--Small, smooth, depressed and tufted or creeping annuals, in mud or shallow water, with opposite and entire rounded or spatulate sessile leaves, and minute white or purplish flowers solitary in the axils of some of the middle leaves (usually one axil floriferous, that of the other leaf sterile). (Name formed of [Greek: mikro/s], _small_, and [Greek: a)/nthemon], _flower_.)

1. M. Nuttallii, Gray. Branches ascending, 1--2' high; leaves obovate-spatulate or oval; peduncles at length recurved, about the length of the calyx, which is bell-shaped, 4-toothed and usually split down on one side, in fruit becoming pear-shaped; middle lobe of the corolla linear-oblong, nearly twice the length of the lateral ones; appendage of the stamen nearly as long as the filament itself; stigmas subulate.--Tidal mud of rivers, N. J. to Fla. Aug.--Oct.

15. SYNTHYRIS, Benth.

Calyx 4-parted. Corolla somewhat bell-shaped, variously 2--4-lobed or cleft. Stamens 2, inserted just below the upper sinuses, occasionally with another pair from the other sinuses, exserted; anther-cells not confluent. Style slender; stigma simple. Capsule flattened, rounded, obtuse or notched, 2-celled (rarely 3-lobed and 3-celled), many-seeded, loculicidal; the valves cohering below with the axis.--Perennial herbs, with the simple stems beset with partly clasping bract-like alternate leaves, the root-leaves rounded and petioled, crenate. Flowers in a raceme or spike, bracteate. (Name from [Greek: sy/n], _together_, and [Greek: thyri/s], _a little door_; in allusion to the closed valves of the pod.)

1. S. Houghtoniana, Benth. Hairy; root-leaves ovate, heart-shaped; spike dense (5--12' long); corolla (greenish-white or yellowish) not longer than the calyx, usually 2--3-parted.--Oak-barrens and prairies, Mich. to Minn., south to Ind., Ill., and Iowa.

16. VERONICA, L. SPEEDWELL.

Calyx 4- (rarely 3--5-) parted. Corolla wheel-shaped or salver-shaped, the border 4-parted (rarely 5-parted); the lateral lobes or the lower one commonly narrower than the others. Stamens 2, one each side of the upper lobe of the corolla, exserted; anther-cells confluent at the apex. Style entire; stigma single. Capsule flattened, obtuse or notched at the apex, 2-celled, few--many-seeded.--Chiefly herbs; leaves mostly opposite or whorled; flowers blue, flesh-color, or white. (Derivation doubtful; perhaps the flower of _St. Veronica_.)

Sec. 1. LEPTANDRA. _Tall perennials, with mostly whorled leaves; racemes terminal, dense, spiked; bracts very small; tube of the corolla longer than its limb and much longer than the calyx; both sometimes 5-cleft._

1. V. Virginica, L. (CULVER'S-ROOT. CULVER'S PHYSIC.) Smooth or rather downy; stem simple, straight (2--6 deg. high); leaves whorled in fours to sevens, short-petioled, lanceolate, pointed, finely serrate; spikes panicled; corolla small, nearly white; stamens much exserted; capsule oblong-ovate, not notched, opening by 4 teeth at the apex, many-seeded.--Rich woods, Vt. to Minn., E. Kan., and southward. July, Aug.

Sec. 2. VERONICA proper. _Corolla wheel-shaped; capsule more or less notched, strongly flattened except in n. 2 and 3; low herbs._

[*] _Perennials, stoloniferous or rooting at base, with opposite usually serrate leaves; racemes axillary, mostly opposite; corolla pale blue._

[+] _Capsule turgid, orbicular, many-seeded._

2. V. Anagallis, L. (WATER SPEEDWELL.) Smooth, creeping and rooting at base, then erect; _leaves sessile, most of them clasping by a heart-shaped base, ovate-lanceolate_, acute, serrate or entire (2--3' long); pedicels spreading; corolla pale blue with purple stripes; capsule slightly notched.--Brooks and ditches, N. Eng. to N. J., west to the Rocky Mts. June--Aug. (Eu., Asia.)

3. V. Americana, Schweinitz. (AMERICAN BROOKLIME.) Smooth, decumbent at base, then erect (8--15' high); _leaves mostly petioled, ovate or oblong_, serrate, thickish, truncate or slightly heart-shaped at base; the slender pedicels spreading.--Brooks and ditches, common. June--Aug.

[+][+] _Capsule strongly flattened, several-seeded._

4. V. scutellata, 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. officinalis, 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.)