Genus 7. 



MADDER FAMILY. 



z6 S 



21. Galium palustre L. Marsh Bedstraw. 



Galium palustre L. Sp. PI. 105. 1753. 

 Galium trifidum var. bifolium Macoun, Cat. Can. 

 Plants 202. 1884? 



Perennial, stem erect and rather slender, about 

 16' high; internodes very long (middle one 2V-3' 

 long); short branches mostly in 2's. Stem sharply 

 4-angled, glabrous or a little rough ; leaves in 

 typical specimens rather small, in 2's to 6's, linear- 

 elliptic to spatulate, cuneate at the base, obtuse, 

 3"-8" long, 1 "-2" wide, the rather firm margins 

 and the midrib slightly scabrous, not papillose; 

 flowers numerous in terminal and lateral cymes; 

 bracteoles in the inflorescence minute; pedicels in 

 flower ascending, 1V-2I" long, in fruit strongly 

 divaricate; corolla large, white, 1" if" 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 shady or open places along roadsides and 

 ditches, or in the margins of swamps. Newfound- 

 land, Prince Edward Island and Quebec, to Con- 

 necticut and New York. Also in Europe. Summer. 



Fig. 3948. 



22. Galium concinnum Torr. & Gray. 

 Shining Bedstraw. Fig. 3949. 



Galium parviflorum Raf. Med. Rep. (II.) 5: 360. 

 1808? 



Galium concinnum T. & G. Fl. N. A. 2 : 23. 1841. 



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, 4"-6" long, l"-li" wide, 

 green in drying; peduncles filiform; pedicels 

 short ; flowers minute, white, numerous in open 

 cymes ; fruit small, glabrous ; endosperm deeply 

 grooved. 



In dry woodlands, western New Jersey to Vir- 

 ginia, west to Minnesota, Kansas and Arkansas. 

 June-Aug. 



23. Galium asprellum Michx. Rough 

 Bedstraw. Fig. 3950. 



Galium asprellum Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. I: 78. 1803. 



Perennial, weak, much branched and reclining 

 on bushes, or sometimes erect; stem retrorsely 

 hispid, 2-6 long. Leaves in 6's or 5's, or those 

 of the branches rarely in 4's, narrowly oval or 

 slightly oblanceolate, cuspidate at the apex, nar- 

 rowed at the base, sometimes so much so as to 

 appear petioled, 4"-8" long, i"-2" wide, their 

 margins and midribs rough ; cymes terminal and 

 axillary, several-many-flowered; flowers white; 

 fruit smooth and glabrous, about 1" broad; endo- 

 sperm with a shallow groove. 



In moist soil, Newfoundland to western Ontario, 

 south to North Carolina, Illinois, Wisconsin and 

 Nebraska. Called also pointed cleavers. Ascends 

 to 3500 ft. in the Adirondacks. June-Aug. 



