WILD FLOWERS [37]
be.
The WATER SPEEDWELL, or PIMPERNEL (V. Anagallis-aquatica), differs from the preceding chiefly in having most of its leaves seated on the stalk, only the lower ones possessing stems, and those short ones. In autumn the increased growth of sterile shoots from runners produce almost circular leaves, often two inches broad, a certain aid to identification.
Another close relation, the MARSH or SKULLCAP SPEEDWELL (V. scutellata), on the other hand, has long, very slender, acute leaves, their teeth far apart; and as these three species are the only members of their clan likely to be found in watery places within our limits, a close examination of the leaves of any water-loving plant bearing small four-lobed blue flowers, usually marked with lines of a deeper blue or purple, should enable one to correctly name the species. None of these blossoms can be carried far after being picked; they have a tantalizing habit of dropping off, leaving a bouquet of tiny green calices chiefly.
Many kinds of bees, wasps, flies, and butterflies fertilize all these little flowers, which are first staminate, then pistillate, simply by crawling over them in search of nectar.
COMMON SPEEDWELL; FLUELLIN; PAUL'S BETONY; GROUND-HELE (Veronica officinalis) Figwort family
Flowers - Pale blue, very small, crowded on spike-like racemes from axils of leaves, often from alternate axils. Calyx 4-parted; corolla of 4 lobes, lower lobe commonly narrowest ; 2 divergent stamens inserted at base and on either side of upper corolla lobe ; a knob-like stigma on solitary pistil. Stem: From 3 to 10 in. long, hairy, often prostrate, and rooting at joints. Leaves: Opposite, oblong, obtuse, saw-edged, narrowed at base. Fruit: Compressed heart-shaped capsule, containing numerous flat seeds. Preferred Habitat - Dry fields, uplands, open woods. Flowering Season - May-August. Distribution - From Michigan and Tennessee eastward, also from Ontario to Nova Scotia. Probably an immigrant from Europe and Asia.
An ancient tradition of the Roman Church relates that when Jesus was on His way to Calvary, He passed the home of a certain Jewish maiden, who, when she saw the drops of agony on His brow, ran after Him along the road to wipe His face with her kerchief. This linen, the monks declared, ever after bore the impress of the sacred features - vera iconica, the true likeness. When the Church wished to canonize the pitying maiden, an abbreviated form of the Latin words was given her, St. Veronica, and her kerchief became one of the most precious relics at St. Peter's, where it is said to be still preserved. Medieval flower lovers, whose piety seems to have been eclipsed only by their imaginations, named this little flower from a fancied resemblance to the relic. Of course, special healing virtue was attributed to the square of pictured linen, and since all could not go to Rome to be cured by it, naturally the next step was to employ the common, wayside plant that bore the saint's name. Mental healers will not be surprised to learn that because of the strong popular belief in its efficacy to cure all fleshly ills, it actually seemed to possess miraculous powers. For scrofula it was said to be the infallible remedy, and presently we find Linnaeus grouping this flower, and all its relatives under the family name of Scrofulariaceae. "What's in a name?" Religion, theology, medicine, folk-lore, metaphysics, what not?
One of the most common wild flowers in England is this same familiar little blossom of that lovely shade of blue known by Chinese artists as "the sky after rain." "The prettiest of all humble roadside flowers I saw," says Burroughs, in "A Glance at British Wild Flowers." "It is prettier than the violet, and larger and deeper colored than our houstonia. It is a small and delicate edition of our hepatica, done in indigo blue, and wonted to the grass in the fields and by the waysides.
'The little speedwell's darling blue'
sings Tennyson. I saw it blooming with the daisy and buttercup upon the grave of Carlyle. The tender human and poetic element
The WATER SPEEDWELL, or PIMPERNEL (V. Anagallis-aquatica), differs from the preceding chiefly in having most of its leaves seated on the stalk, only the lower ones possessing stems, and those short ones. In autumn the increased growth of sterile shoots from runners produce almost circular leaves, often two inches broad, a certain aid to identification.
Another close relation, the MARSH or SKULLCAP SPEEDWELL (V. scutellata), on the other hand, has long, very slender, acute leaves, their teeth far apart; and as these three species are the only members of their clan likely to be found in watery places within our limits, a close examination of the leaves of any water-loving plant bearing small four-lobed blue flowers, usually marked with lines of a deeper blue or purple, should enable one to correctly name the species. None of these blossoms can be carried far after being picked; they have a tantalizing habit of dropping off, leaving a bouquet of tiny green calices chiefly.
Many kinds of bees, wasps, flies, and butterflies fertilize all these little flowers, which are first staminate, then pistillate, simply by crawling over them in search of nectar.
COMMON SPEEDWELL; FLUELLIN; PAUL'S BETONY; GROUND-HELE (Veronica officinalis) Figwort family
Flowers - Pale blue, very small, crowded on spike-like racemes from axils of leaves, often from alternate axils. Calyx 4-parted; corolla of 4 lobes, lower lobe commonly narrowest ; 2 divergent stamens inserted at base and on either side of upper corolla lobe ; a knob-like stigma on solitary pistil. Stem: From 3 to 10 in. long, hairy, often prostrate, and rooting at joints. Leaves: Opposite, oblong, obtuse, saw-edged, narrowed at base. Fruit: Compressed heart-shaped capsule, containing numerous flat seeds. Preferred Habitat - Dry fields, uplands, open woods. Flowering Season - May-August. Distribution - From Michigan and Tennessee eastward, also from Ontario to Nova Scotia. Probably an immigrant from Europe and Asia.
An ancient tradition of the Roman Church relates that when Jesus was on His way to Calvary, He passed the home of a certain Jewish maiden, who, when she saw the drops of agony on His brow, ran after Him along the road to wipe His face with her kerchief. This linen, the monks declared, ever after bore the impress of the sacred features - vera iconica, the true likeness. When the Church wished to canonize the pitying maiden, an abbreviated form of the Latin words was given her, St. Veronica, and her kerchief became one of the most precious relics at St. Peter's, where it is said to be still preserved. Medieval flower lovers, whose piety seems to have been eclipsed only by their imaginations, named this little flower from a fancied resemblance to the relic. Of course, special healing virtue was attributed to the square of pictured linen, and since all could not go to Rome to be cured by it, naturally the next step was to employ the common, wayside plant that bore the saint's name. Mental healers will not be surprised to learn that because of the strong popular belief in its efficacy to cure all fleshly ills, it actually seemed to possess miraculous powers. For scrofula it was said to be the infallible remedy, and presently we find Linnaeus grouping this flower, and all its relatives under the family name of Scrofulariaceae. "What's in a name?" Religion, theology, medicine, folk-lore, metaphysics, what not?
One of the most common wild flowers in England is this same familiar little blossom of that lovely shade of blue known by Chinese artists as "the sky after rain." "The prettiest of all humble roadside flowers I saw," says Burroughs, in "A Glance at British Wild Flowers." "It is prettier than the violet, and larger and deeper colored than our houstonia. It is a small and delicate edition of our hepatica, done in indigo blue, and wonted to the grass in the fields and by the waysides.
'The little speedwell's darling blue'
sings Tennyson. I saw it blooming with the daisy and buttercup upon the grave of Carlyle. The tender human and poetic element