_Veronica americana_
_Flowers_--Light blue to white, usually striped with deep blue or
purple; structure of flower similar to that of _V. officinalis_, but
borne in long, loose racemes branching outward on stems that spring from
axils of most of the leaves. _Stem:_ Without hairs, usually branched, 6
in. to 3 ft. long, lying partly on ground and rooting from lower joints.
_Leaves:_ Oblong, lance-shaped, saw-edged, opposite, petioled, and
lacking hairs; 1 to 3 in. long, 1/4 to 1 in. wide. _Fruit:_ A nearly
round, compressed, but not flat, capsule with flat seeds in 2 cells.
_Preferred Habitat_--In brooks, ponds, ditches, swamps.
_Flowering Season_--April-September.
_Distribution_--From Atlantic to Pacific, Alaska to California and New
Mexico, Quebec to Pennsylvania.
This, the perhaps most beautiful native speedwell, whose sheets of blue
along the brookside are so frequently mistaken for masses of
forget-me-nots by the hasty observer, of course shows marked differences
on closer investigation; its tiny blue flowers are marked with purple
pathfinders, and the plant is not hairy, to mention only two. But the
poets of England are responsible for most of whatever confusion still
lurks in the popular mind concerning these two flowers. Speedwell, a
common medieval benediction from a friend, equivalent to our farewell or
adieu, and forget-me-not of similar intent, have been used
interchangeably by some writers in connection with parting gifts of
small blue flowers. It was the germander speedwell that in literature
and botanies alike was most commonly known as the forget-me-not for more
than two hundred years, or until only fifty years ago. When the
_Mayflower_ and her sister ships were launched, “Speedwell” was
considered a happier name for a vessel than it proved to be.