The Brooklime Speedwell is quite as common as its cousin the blue Germander Speedwell, but it grows in damp places. You find it in ditches and beside slow-running streams, and the flowers are in bloom from spring to autumn. The plant has a round juicy stem, which is hollow in the middle. It rises straight up from its muddy bed. The flowers have four small petals which are a dull blue in colour, and are not very attractive. In the centre of the flower there is a tiny blue ring, and to this ring are fastened the two red-headed stamens. The seed-vessel is a small green dot with a spike at the top. It is so tiny that you can scarcely see it until the blue petals have fallen off. Behind the flower there are four small green sepals. The leaves of the Brooklime Speedwell are smooth and glossy. They are oval with blunt points, and the edges are waved. These leaves grow in pairs opposite each other, and have very short stalks which widen out at the foot so as to clasp the stem. The flowers grow in loose heads on a long thin stalk, which springs from between the leaf and the stem. 3. GREAT WATER FORGET-ME-NOT Every child knows the pale blue Forget-me-not with its dainty flowers. It has many varieties which are found all over the country, but the Water Forget-me-not is one of the loveliest, and grows abundantly in ditches and marshes from spring to autumn. It is a tall straggling plant, with long flower-stalks which grow singly on alternate sides of the stem. Those flowers nearest the bottom of the stalk come out first, and they soon fall off. The pink buds are always at the very top of the stem, and the full-open flowers are close below them. Each flower has five small round blue petals which lie open like a wheel, and in the centre of the flower there is a bright yellow eye. The stamens are hidden from sight in the small blue tube below the petals. So is the seed-vessel. There is a green calyx-cup which is hairy all over, and round the mouth it is edged with sharply pointed teeth. The leaves of the Forget-me-not are long and narrow, with blunt points and smooth edges. They are as glossy as if they were wet, and they clasp the stem. The lowest part of the stem is four-sided and hairy, and it creeps along the mud before it rises up to bear the leaves and flowers. Plate XLVI: 1. COMMON BORAGE. 2. EVERGREEN ALKANET. 3. WOOD HYACINTH. 1. COMMON BORAGE The Borage is not a very common plant, though it is widely distributed throughout the country. You find it on hedge-banks and in waste places, and it blooms in summer and autumn. It has beautiful bright blue flowers, with five petals which are gracefully pointed at the tips. These flowers droop either singly or in clusters at the end of stout, hairy stalks.