GAMOPETAL^ 283 



The flowers are pale yellow, in compound, axillary 

 and terminal, leafy cymes, which are dense and 

 many-flowered. The flowers are sometimes green or 

 straw-coloured, the plant sometimes hybridising with 

 G. Mollugo. The panicles are small, collected into a 

 dense spike. On sandy soil the flowers may be 

 solitary. The petals are blunt, with a short point. 

 The fruit is small, smooth, black, and the fruit-stalks 

 are spreading. 



The flowers bloom in June onward till September. 

 The plant is a herbaceous perennial, varying in height 

 from I to 2 ft. 



The flowers are hermaphrodite or bisexual. Honey 

 is secreted by the fleshy base of the ovary at the 

 base of the style, adhering in a thin layer. The 

 anthers are erect at first, and covered with pollen 

 before the two stigmas ripen, lying close together. 

 The stamens then become horizontal, and curve down 

 at the end between the petals, and the styles also 

 spread out. The stigmas may be receptive in the 

 first stage, before they spread out. The movement 

 of the stamens is calculated to prevent self-pollination 

 and to promote cross-pollination. Insects carry 

 pollen on their feet. The visitors are numerous, and 

 being yellow the flowers are attractive to beetles, as 

 well as flies and Hymenoptera. The flowers differ 

 locally in size. 



The fruit is didymous, the lobes one-seeded, and 

 when ripe they fall apart near the plant. 



The name Lady's or Ladies' Bedstraw refers to 



