108 GUERNSE Y. 
cultivated ground. Abundant on the cliffs. I have occasionally 
found plants with pure white flowers. 
Asperula arvensis, L. 
Casual. First found: Miss Agnew, 1900. 
This plant was discovered among several other strange Casuals. 
by Miss B. Agnew in the summer of 1900 in an old neglected garden. 
at Hauteville. 
(Asperula cynanchica, I.., the Squinancy-wort, occurs in Alderney. ) 
Galium Aparine, L. Goose-grass. Cleavers.. 
Native. First record: Gosselin, 1815. 
Generally distributed and rather common in hedgebanks and as a. 
weed in cultivated ground. Often found on the shingle of the 
sea-beach. 
In the patois this plant is called Gratteron, or sometimes. 
La Coue (the tail) from the common amusement of country children 
to stick wisps, or ‘tails,’ of the plant on each other’s backs on 
All Fools’ Day: a custom also prevalent in the Midlands, where 
the plant is called S/ck-a-back. The seeds have been recommended. 
as a good substitute for coffee. 
Galium Mollugo, L. Great Bedstraw. 
Native. First record: Gosselin, 1815. 
Common on banks and hedges everywhere. 
Called in the patois Pain de Panpan, because the larvae of the: 
Blood-nose Beetle ( Zymarcha /aevis) feed upon it. A child will hold 
one of these prettv blue beetles in its hand and repeat: ‘ Panpan, 
mourte mé ten sang ou bien j’te tuerai’ (Beetle, show me your 
blood or else I’ll kill you) until the ‘ blood’ exudes from the insect’s 
mouth, and then it is set free. The patois name Contreprinse has. 
been given me for the present plant, but I suspect it more correctly 
belongs to G. Aparine. In Normandy the Great Bedstraw is called 
Catlle-lait blanc, and G. verum is Caille lait jaune, owing to their 
singular property of curdling milk. 
Galium verum, L. Yellow Bedstraw. 
Native. First record: Gosselin, 1815. 
Common in the sandy pastures and commons of the lowlands,. 
often growing in great profusion. The prevailing form is the var. 
littorale, Breb. Rare in the interior of the island and on the cliffs. 
In some parts of England this plant is called Rennet or Cheese-- 
vennet, in allusion to its property of coagulating milk, for which 
purpose it was actually employed. Gerarde tells us that ‘the 
people in Cheshire, where the best cheese is made, do use it in their 
rennet, esteeming greatly of that cheese above other made without it.” 
