Chapter V: CHAMAEDRYS, L. Stem pubescent, at least in two lines, ascending from

a creeping base; _leaves subsessile, ovate or cordate, incisely crenate; racemes loosely-flowered_; pedicels little longer than calyx; capsule triangular-obcordate.--Sparingly introduced into Canada, N. Y., and Penn. (Adv. from Eu.)

[*][*] _Leaves opposite; flowers in a terminal raceme; the lower bracts leaf-like; capsules flat, several-seeded. Perennials (mostly turning blackish in drying)._

6. V. alpina, L. Stem branched from the base, erect, simple (2--12' high); _leaves elliptical_, or the lowest rounded, entire or toothed, _nearly sessile; raceme hairy, few-flowered, crowded_; capsule obovate, notched.--Alpine summits of the White Mts. (Eu., Asia.)

7. V. serpyllifolia, L. (THYME-LEAVED SPEEDWELL.) Much branched at the creeping base, _nearly smooth_; branches ascending and simple (2--4' high); leaves _ovate or oblong_, obscurely crenate, _the lowest petioled_ and rounded, the upper passing into lanceolate bracts; _raceme loose_; corolla whitish, or pale blue, with deeper stripes; capsule rounded, broader than long, obtusely notched.--Roadsides and fields, common; introduced and indigenous. May--July (Eu., Asia.)

[*][*][*] _Annuals; floral leaves like those of the stem (or somewhat reduced), the flowers appearing to be axillary and solitary, mostly alternate; corolla shorter than the calyx._

[+] _Flowers short-pedicelled; floral leaves reduced; corolla shorter than the calyx._

8. V. peregrina, L. (NECKWEED. PURSLANE SPEEDWELL.) Glandular-puberulent or _nearly smooth_, erect (4--9' high), branched; _lowest leaves petioled, oval-oblong, toothed_, thickish, the others sessile, obtuse; the upper oblong-linear and entire, longer than the almost sessile (whitish) flowers; _capsule orbicular, slightly notched_, many-seeded.--Waste and cultivated grounds, in damp soil; throughout U. S., and almost cosmopolite. April--June.

V. ARVENSIS, 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. AGRESTIS, 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. BUXBAUMII, Tenore. _Leaves_ round or heart-ovate, crenately cut-toothed ({2/3}--1' long); flower large (nearly 1/2' 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.)