868 FLORA. 



3-5 mm. long, in fruit strongly divaricate ; corolla white, 2-3.5 mm - broad, 4-parted, 

 the lobes oblong, acute; disk almost obsolete; fruit glabrous; endosperm of the seed 

 grooved on the inner face, in cross-section lunate. In damp places, Newf. and 

 Quebec to Mass., Conn, and N. Y. Also in Europe. Summer. 



20. Galium concinnum Torr. & Gray. SHINING BEDSTRAW. (I. F. f. 

 3427.) Perennial, glabrous, shining, usually much branched, the angles of the 

 stem and edges of the leaves minutely scabrous. Leaves usually all in 6's, linear 

 or sometimes broader above the middle, narrowed at the base, blunt-pointed, or 

 minutely cuspidate, 8-12 mm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, green in drying; peduncles 

 filiform ; pedicels short ; flowers minute, white, numerous in open cymes ; fruit 

 small, glabrous; endosperm deeply grooved. In dry woodlands, N. J. to Va., Minn., 

 Kans. and Ark. June-Aug. 



21. Galium asprellum Michx. ROUGH BEDSTRAW. (I. F. f. 3428.) Peren- 

 nial, weak, much branched and reclining on bushes, or sometimes erect; stem re- 

 trorsely hispid, 6-18 dm. long. Leaves in 6's or 5's, or those of the branches rare- 

 ly in 4's, narrowly oval or slightly oblanceolate, cuspidate, narrowed at the base, 

 8-16 mm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, their margins and midribs rough ; cymes several- 

 many-flowered; flowers white; fruit smooth and glabrous, about 2 mm. broad; 

 endosperm with a shallow groove. In moist soil, Newf. to Out., N. Car., 111., 

 Wis. and Neb. June-Aug. 



22. Galium hispidulum Michx. COAST BEDSTRAW. (I. F. f. 3429.) 

 Perennial, much branched, hirsute, hispid or nearly glabrous, 3-6 dm. high. 

 Leaves in 4's, i -nerved, oval, mucronate, rather thick, 6-20 mm. long, 3-8 mm. 

 wide, the margins more or less revolute in drying; flowers few. terminating the 

 branchlets, white; pedicels 6-8 mm. long, rather stout, becoming deflexed in fruit; 

 fruit fleshy, minutely pubescent, about 4 mm. broad. In dry or sandy soil, south- 

 ern N. J. to Fla. and Ga. May-Aug. This species has been referred, on account 

 of its fleshy fruit, to the genus Relbunium Endl., but it lacks the characteristic 

 involucre of the typical species. 



8. SHERARDIA L. 



Slender annual procumbent or diffuse herbs, with verticillate spiny-pointed 

 leaves, and small nearly sessile pink or blue flowers, in involucrate heads. Calyx- 

 tube ovoid, its limb 4-6-lobed, the lobes lanceolate*, persistent. Corolla funnelform, 

 4~5-lobed, the tube as long as the lobes or longer. Stamens 4 or 5, inserted on the 

 tube of the corolla ; filaments slender; anthers linear-oblong, exserted. Ovary 2- 

 celled; style 2-cleft at the summit; ovules I in each cavity. Fruit didymous, the 

 carpels indehiscent. Seed erect. [Named for Dr. Wm. Sherard, 1659-1728, 

 patron of Dillenius.] A monotypic genus. 



i. Sherardia arvensis L. BLUE FIELD-MADDER. HERB SHERARD. SPUR- 

 WORT. (I. F. f. 3430.) Tufted, roughish; stems numerous, prostrate, as- 

 cending, or decumbent, 0.7-2.5 dm. long. Leaves in 4's, 5's or 6's. the upper 

 linear or lanceolate, acute and sharp-pointed, rough-ciliate on the margins, 6-16 

 mm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, the lower often obovate, mucronate; flowers in slender- 

 peduncled involucrate heads, the involucre deeply 6-8-lobed, the lobes lanceolate, 

 sharp pointed; corolla-lobes spreading; fruit crowned with the 4-6 lanceolate 

 calyx-teeth. In waste places, Ont. and Mass. Also in Bermuda. Adv. from 

 Europe. June-July. 



9. ASPERULA L. 



Perennial herbs, with 4-angled stems, verticillate leaves, and small white, pink 

 or blue flowers in terminal or axillary, mostly cymose clusters. Calyx-tube some- 

 what didymous, the limb obsolete. Corolla funnelform, 4-lobed. Stamens 4, in- 

 serted on the tube or throat of the corolla; anthers linear or oblong. Ovary 2- 

 celled; ovules I in each cavity; style 2-cleft. Fruit globose-didymous, the carpels 

 indehiscent. Seed adherent to the pericarp ; endosperm fleshy : embryo curved. 

 [Latin diminutive of aspcr, rough, referring to the leaves.] About 80 species, 

 natives of the Old World. 



i. Asperula odorata L. SWEET WOODRUFF. (I. F. f. 3431.) Stems erect, 

 slender, smooth. Leaves usually in 8's (6's-9*s), thin, oblong-lanceolate, mucron- 

 ate, I -nerved, roughish on the margins, 1-3.5 cm - lon g tne lower smaller, oftej^ 



