216 MADDER FAMILY 



long. Near the coast. Blooming in spring and summer. 

 Southern Fla. 



Psychotria undata. Wild coffee. Flowers white, small, in 

 terminal panicles. Fruit small, dark red. Shrub or small 

 tree. Leaves elliptic or oval, pointed at both ends, glossy, 

 2-6 in. long. In thickets near the coast. Fla. 



Ernodea littoralis. Flowers yellowish, small, 4-6-lobed, 

 solitary in leaf-axils. Fruit small, yellowish, 2-seeded. 

 Shrub, prostrate or spreading. Stems 4-angled. Leaves 

 leathery, smooth, often clustered, rather narrow, 1 in. long 

 or less. Near the coast. Southern Fla. 



Randia aculeata. Flowers white, small, in leaf-axils. Fruit 

 whitish, seeds several. Shrub 3-10 ft. tall, usually spiny. 

 Leaves variable, usually broadened upward, often clustered, 

 about 1 in. long. Near the coast. Fla. 



Button WEEDS, Partridge Berry, and Galium (Several 



genera) 



A few plants of this family are such common weeds in 

 Florida that they should be mentioned because of their 

 energetic persistence in appearing in cultivated land and 

 on roadsides; buttonweeds some are called, from their 

 habit of crowding their tiny flowers in small heads. Bich- 

 ardia hrasiliensis, with spreading or prostrate stems, hairy 

 oval or oblong leaves, one to three inches long, and dense 

 terminal clusters of inconspicuous white flowers, is a very 

 common weed of sandy soil, as are species of Diodia, whose 

 small white or pale pink 4-lobed flowers are solitary or 

 a few together in the axils of the narrow leaves, which are 

 connected at the base by bristle-fringed stipules. These 

 weeds produce from each flower only two to four seeds, 

 which are in dry nutlets that separate from one another 

 at maturity. 



The partridge berry, Mitchella repens, whose creeping 

 stems, small dark green leaves, four-lobed white flowers, 

 and red fruit are often seen in northern woods, is common 

 in many places in Florida. 



