266 



RUBIACEAE. 



VOL. III. 



24. Galium bermudense L. Coast Bed- 

 straw. Fig. 3951. 



Galium bermudense L. Sp. PI. 105. 1753. 

 Galium hispidulum Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 79. 



1803. 

 Relbunium bermudense Britten, Journ. Bot. 47 : 



42. 1909. 



Perennial, much branched, hirsute, hispid 

 or nearly glabrous, i-2 high. Leaves in 4's, 

 i-nerved, oval, mucronate, rather thick, 3"-io" 

 long, i "-4" wide, the margins more or less 

 revolute in drying; flowers few, terminating 

 the branchlets, white ; pedicels 3"-4" long, 

 rather stout, becoming deflexed in fruit, some- 

 times i-bracteolate; fruit fleshy, purplish, mi- 

 nutely pubescent, becoming glabrate, about 2" 

 broad. 



In dry or sandy soil, southern New Jersey to 

 Florida and Georgia. Bermuda ; Bahamas. May- 

 Aug. 



8. SHERARDIA [Dill.] L. Sp. PI. 102. 1753. 



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

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

 tube obovoid, 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 small, oblong, exserted. Ovary 2-celled ; style 2-cleft at the sum- 

 mit; ovules I in each cavity. Fruit didymous, the carpels indehiscent. Seed erect. [Named 

 for Dr. William Sherard, 1659-1728, patron of Dillenius.] 



A monotypic genus of the Old World. 



i. Sherardia arvensis L. Blue Field 



Madder. Herb Sherard. Spurwort. 



Fig. 3952. 



Sherardia arvensis L. Sp. PI. 102. 1753. 



Tufted, roughish, stems numerous, prostrate, 

 ascending, or decumbent, 3'-io' long. Leaves in 

 4's, 5*s or 6's, the upper linear or lanceolate, acute 

 and sharp-pointed, rough-ciliate on the margins, 

 3"-8" long, i "-2" wide, the lower often obovate, 

 mucronate ; flowers in slender-peduncled involu- 

 crate 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, Ontario to eastern Massachusetts 

 and New Jersey. Also in Bermuda. Adventive from 

 Europe. June-July. 



9. ASPERULA L. Sp. Pi. 103. 1753. 



Erect or ascending branching perennial herbs, with 4-angled stems, verticillate leaves, and 

 small white pink or blue flowers in terminal or axillary, mostly cymose clusters. Calyx-tube 

 somewhat didymous, the limb obsolete. Corolla funnelform. 4-lobed. Stamens 4, inserted 

 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 asper, rough, refer- 

 ring to the leaves.] 



About 80 species, natives of the Old World. Type species : Asperula odorata L. 



Leaves oblong-lanceolate to obovate; fruit hispid. i. A. odorata. 



Leaves linear, i" wide or less; fruit smooth, 2. A. galioides. 



