GAMOPETAL.E 285 



legend with the nativity. In Germany we find the 

 same name given to this plant." 



Brand says : " In the old herbals we find descrip- 

 tions of a herb entitled the ' Ladies' Bedstraw.' It 

 appears that even so late as Henry VIII's time, there 

 were directions for certain persons to examine every 

 night the straw of the king's bed, that no daggers 

 might be concealed therein. In * Plaine Percevall, 

 the Peacemaker of England,' printed in the time of 

 Queen Elizabeth, we find an expression which 

 strongly marks the general use of straw in beds 

 during that reign : ' These high-flying sparks will 

 light on the heads of us all, and kindle in our bed- 

 straw.' " 



Galium verum. — In Fig, 60 note the whorled, 

 linear leaves, the crowded terminal^ axillary , leafy cyme, 

 with numerous lowers, 



Squinancy Wort (Aspernla cynanchica). 



Many of the species of this genus Asperula have 

 rough hairs, hence this name. As a cure for quincy 

 or squinzy it was called Squinancy Wort, and the 

 second Latin name refers to its choking nature — 

 Greek, kunanche, dog-strangle. 



One may meet with this plant in abundance in the 

 chalk districts of this country. It does not occur in 

 Scotland, but in England, S. and W. Ireland, and to 

 the south of Westmorland and Yorkshire in the 

 former. 



