MARSH BEDSTRAW 91 



the Gothic [A'^^/im typica). Small lik;[)haiu 1 lawkmolh [C/ia-rocaiNpa 

 e/penof), Lygris lugiibrata, feed on this sweet-scented llower. 



The second Latin name liii-siituiii refers to tlie dowin'^ stem and 

 foliage. 



It is called Coddled /Xpple, Apple-pie, Blooming Sally, Cherry- 

 pie, Codlins, Codlings-and-cream, Custard-cups, Fiddle-grass, Goose- 

 berry Pie, Plum-pudding, Sod-apple, Son-before- the- Pather, Wild 

 Willow, Willow Herb, Red Wiihy-herb. 



P'rom its smell it is called Plum-|)udding, Apple-pie, Cherry-pie, 

 Gooseberry Pie, and Sod-apple. As to the name Son-before-the- 

 Pather, Lyte says: " It is called of some, in Latine, Fi/iiis ante 

 Patron, that is to say, the sonne before the father, bycause y' has long 

 huskes in which the seede is coteined do come forth, and waxe great, 

 before that the flouere openeth ". 



Essential Spp:cific Characters: — 



119. Epilobiuin /liisiitmi/, L. — Root creeping, stem tall, branched, 

 leaves opposite, downy, lanceolate, serrate, clasping, flowers puce, 

 regular, stamens and style erect, stigma 4-cleft. 



Marsh Bedstraw (Galium palustre, L.) 



Found in the Neolithic deposits in Renfrewshire, Marsh Bedstraw 

 is distributed to-day throughout the North Temperate and Arctic 

 Zones in Arctic Europe, N. Africa, Siberia, Persia, Greenland. Water 

 Bedstraw also occurs in every part of Great Britain, ascending to about 

 2000 ft. in Northumberland. 



This Bedstraw is a typical hygrophyte, occurring in all damp 

 hollows or areas where moist conditions are perennial. It is a familiar 

 sight to see it encircling the margin of a pond. It is also widely spread 

 in marshes, in ditches, by river-sides, and by the lake- side, indeed 

 wherever water is present, usually in the reed swamp. 



A feature of Marsh Bedstraw not noticed in the Heath Bedstraw 

 is the downwardly placed bristles of the stem. The stems are spread- 

 ing, tall, erect, fairly stout, but weak, and associating in clusters for 

 support. The stems are angular, the leaves in a whorl are 4-6, oblong- 

 lance-shaped, or inversely egg-shaped, unequal, blunt, with a slender 

 midrib. Usually the lower whorls have six leaves, the upper four. 

 They are shining and short. 



The flowers are hand.some, white, in large cymes, exceeding the 

 leaves, or in rather loose and spreading panicles. The cymes are 



' The hairs arc cither lont; and spreading or glanduhir. 



