272 RUBIACEAE. 



Annual plants : fruits bristly. 1- G. Aparlnc. 



Perennial plants : fruits smooth, glabrous, or bristly. 



Corolla yellow. 2. G. Wirtgenii. 



Corolla white, greenish or purple. 



Endosperm of the seed deeply lunate or annular in cross- 

 section : leaves various. 

 Fruits uncinate-hispid. 



Flowers few, borne in lax cymes : corolla green- 

 ish or greenish-white : leaf -blades broad. 

 Fruits pedicelled : mature carpel-bodies less 



than 2 mm. long. 3. G. pilosum. 



Fruits sessile or nearly so : mature carpel-bodies 

 over 2 mm. long. 

 Upper leaves with oblong or ovate-lanceolate 



blades : corolla-lobes 1.5-2 mm. long. 4. G. circaezans. 



Upper leaves with lanceolate blades : co- 

 rolla-lobes 2.5-3 mm. long. 

 Flowers numerous, borne in compact cymes : corolla 

 bright white : leaf-blades narrow. 

 Fruits smooth or nearly so. 

 Endosperm shallow-lunate, or flat, sometimes nearly 

 circular in cross-section. 

 Fruits glabrous or nearly so. 



Stem retrorsely hispid : leaf-blades broad : bracts 



bristle-tipped. 

 Stem smooth or nearly so : leaf-blades narrow : 

 bracts not bristle-tipped. 

 Fruits uncinate-hispid. 



1. G. Aparine L. Plants reclining, 1-15 dm. long, the stems retrorse-scabrous 

 or prickly: leaves, and stipules, with linear-spatulate blades 1-8 cm. long, the 

 uj^per side with short stout hairs: corolla white; lobes ovate, 1-1.5 mm. long, 

 acute : fruits 3-5 mm. thick, densely uncinate-hispid : endosperm nearly annular 

 in cross-section. ■ — ■ Common, in cultivated and waste grounds. — Spr. and sum. 

 — Goose-grass. Cleavers. 



2. G. Wirtgenii F. Schultz. Plants 2-7 dm. tall, the stems smooth, with 

 rather long internodes above : leaves, and stipules, with linear roughish blades 

 9-21 mm. long, soon deflexed: lower branches of the inflorescence very short: 

 corolla yellow; lobes ovate, about 1.5 mm. long, glabrous: fruits scarcely 1 mm. 

 broad, usually glabrous. — S. Rare, in fields. Nat. of Eu. — Sum. — Yellow- 



BEDSTBAW. 



3. G. pilosum Ait. Plants 3-8 dm. tall, the stems hirsute, 4-angled above 

 the swollen nodes: leaves, and stipules, with oval-ovate or elliptic blades 8-10 

 mm. long, sparingly pubescent, pellucid-punctate beneath: corolla greenish 

 or purplish; lobes ovate to lanceolate, about 1.5 mm. long: fruits about 4 mm. 

 thick, uncinate-hispid: endosperm lunate in cross-section. — Common, in fence- 

 rows and thickets. — Sum. 



4. G. circaezans Michx. Plants 2-4 dm. tall, the stem glabrous or sparingly 

 pubescent: leaves, and stipules, with elliptic-ovate or oval blades 15-30 mm. 

 long, or more, sparingly pubescent : corolla greenish ; lobes ovate, acute, less 

 than 2 mm. long: fruits about 5 mm. thick, uncinate-hispid: endosperm lunate 

 in cross-section. — Common, in woods and thickets. — Sum. - — Wild-liquorice. 



5. G. lanceolatum Torr. Plants sparingly pubescent in parts: stem branched 

 at the base, mostly 2.5-6 dm. tall: leaves, and stipules, shorter than the inter- 

 nodes, 30-75 mm. long; blades of the upper leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceo- 

 late, acute or slightly acuminate, sparingly j)ubescent, especially on the veins 

 beneath, 3-ribbed: flowers few, sessile on the spreading cyme-branches: corolla 

 glabrous or nearly so, 3-5 mm. broad, greenish, becoming purple; lobes 4, 

 slender-tipped : fruits as in G. circaezans. — Not very common, in rocky woods. 

 — ■ Sum. — Wild-liquorice. 



6. G. 'boreale L. Plants glabrous or nearly so: stems often tufted, 1 mm. 

 tall or less, strict: leaves and stipules in 4's, mostly 1.5-4 cm. long; blades 

 linear to linear-lanceolate, mostly obtuse, 3-ribbed, ciliolate, pale beneath: 



