226 



RUBIACEAE. 



[Vol. III. 



22. Galium hispidulum Michx. 

 Coast Bedstraw. (Fig. 3429.) 



Galium hispidulum Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i; 79. 



1803. 



Perennial, much branched, hirsute, hispid 

 or nearly glabrous, i°-2° high. Leaves in 

 4's, i-nerved, oval, mucronate, rather thick, 

 2i"-\o" long, 1%"-^" wide, the margins 

 more or less revolute in drying; flowers few, 

 terminating the branchlets, white; pedicels 

 ■^"-\" long, rather stout, becoming deflexed 

 in fruit; fruit fleshy, minutely pubescent, 

 about 2" broad. 



Ill dry or sandy soil, southern New Jersey to 

 Florida and Georgia. May-Aug. tj^ 



8. SHERARDIA L. Sp. PI. 102. 1753. 



Slender annual procumbent or diffuse herbs, with verticillate spiny-pointed leaves, and 

 small nearly sessile pink or blue flowers, in terminal and axillary involucrate heads. Calyx- 

 tube ovoid, its limb 4-6-lobed, the lobes lanceolate, persistent. Corolla fuunelform, 4-5- 

 lobed, the tube as long as the lobes or longer. Stamens 4 or 5, inserted on the tube of the 

 corolla; filaments slender; anthers linear-oblong, exserted. Ovary 2-celled; style 2-cleft at 

 the summit; ovules i in each cavity. Fruit didymous, the carpels iudehiscent. Seed erect. 

 [Named for Dr. Wm. Sherard, 1659-172S, patron of Dillcnius.] 



A monotypic genus of the Old World. 



I. Sherardia arvensis L. Blue Field 



Madder. Herb Sherard. Spurwort. 



(Fig. 3430.) 



Sherardia arvensis L. Sp. PI. 102. 1753. 



Tufted, roughish, stems numerous, prostrate, 

 ascending, or decumbent, 3'-io' long. Leaves 

 in 4's, 5"s or 6's, the upper linear or lanceolate, 

 acute aud sharp-pointed, rough-ciliate on the 

 margins, 3"-8" long, \"-2" wide, the lower 

 often obovate, mucronate; flowers in slender- 

 peduncled involucrate heads, the involucre 

 deeply 6-S-lobed, the lobes lanceolate, sharp- 

 pointed; corolla-lobes spreading; fruit crowned 

 with the 4-6 lanceolate calyx-teeth. 



In waste places, Ontario and eastern Massachu- 

 setts. Also in Bermuda. Adventive from Europe. 

 June-July. 



9. ASPERULA I,. Sp. PI. 103. 1753. 



Erect or ascending branching perennial herbs, with 4-angled stems, verticillate leaves, 

 and small white pink or blue flowers in termiual or axillary, mostly cymose clusters. Calyx- 

 tube somewhat didymous, the limb obsolete. Corolla funnelform, 4-lobed. Stamens 4, in- 

 serted on the tube or throat of the corolla; anthers linear or oblong. Ovary 2-celled; ovules 

 I in each cavity; style 2-cleft. Fruit globose-didymous, the carpels iudehiscent. Seed ad- 

 herent to the pericarp; endosperm fleshy; embryo curved. [Latin diminutive of asper, 

 rough, referring to the leaves.] 



About 80 species, natives of the Old World. 



