RUBIACE^. 151 



bose. Capsule 2-celled, 2-seeded, mostly 2-parted. Recep- 

 tacle globose, hairy. — Flowers in a globose head. 



C occidentalis Linn. : leaves petiolate, opposite or ternate, ovate or oval, 

 acununate, smoothish; peduncles long, often ternate at the extremity of the 

 branches. 



Borders of ponds and streams. Can. to Flor. W. to J^iss. July, Aug. Tj.— 

 Stem 4—8 feet high, branched. Heads of flowers about an inch 'in diameter. 

 Corolla white, somevv^hat funnel-form. Button Bush. Pond Dogwood. 



• 



4. DIODIA. ZkVm.— Diodia. 



(Said to be derived from the Greek 6io6os, a. road or way ; in allusion to ita 

 growing by way-sides. Eat. Man.) 



Calyx with the ,tube ovate or obovate, often 8-nerved, 2 — 4- 

 toothed. Corolla funnel-form, 4-lobed. Stamens 4, exserted 

 or included. Style bifid or undivided. Fruit crowned with the 

 calyx, 2-celled, bipartite; carpel 1-seeded. 



D. teres Walt.: stem procumbent, diffuse, terete, hairy; leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, nearly smooth, margin and keel serrulate ; stipules with nume- 

 rous long bristles; flowers axillary, solitary, alternate; corolla bearded 

 within ; fruit ovate, pubescent, crowned by the 4-lobed calyx. Spermacoce 

 diodina Mich. 



Sandy fields. N. J. to Flor. and Louis. W. to Ark. Aug. (X).—Stem 4—16 

 inches high, much branched. Flowers opposite, often clustered, white or pale 

 V^m- Terete Diodia. 



5. GALIUM. Z/Z7i%.— Bedstraw. 



(From the Greek ynXa, milk ; one of the species having been formerly used to 

 curdle mUk.) 



Calyx with the tube ovate-globose or oblong ; limb nearly 

 wanting. Corolla 4-parted, rotate, (very rarely 3-parted.) Sta- 

 mens short. Styles 2, short. Fruit didymous, roundish, rarely 

 oblong. 



* F'ruit smooth. Mowers yellow. 



1. G. verum Linn. : leaves about 8 in a whorl, narrow-linear, grooved, 

 scabrous, with somewhat revolute margins ; flowers in dense panicles. 



Pastures. Mass. June, July. %.~Stem erect, 9—18 inches high, slender, 

 branched. Flowers yellow. Employed by the Highlanders as a rennet to cur- 

 dle milk. Ho<Ji. Br. Fl. 



** F'ruit smooth. Mowers loUle. 



2. G. trijiduvi Linn. : stem decumbent or ascending, scabrous downward ; 

 leaves 4—6 in a whorl, linear, obtuse, scabrous on the margin and midrib ; 

 peduncles smooth, spreading, 1— 3-flowered ; corolla 3— 4-cleft. G. Claytoni 

 Mich. G. obtusum Big. 



Swamps and wet fields. Arct. Amer. to Car. W. to Oregon. June, July. 

 q-.—iitem 5 mches to 1 or 2 feet long, much branched. Leaves varying from 



