SMALL BEDSTRAW 



Galium triUdurn L. 



Summer Thcv arc plants of the substrata of the iiiidsiminier wckkIs — 

 Woods weak-stemmed. iiu'()ns])ieii()us plants whieli till in the gaj)* 

 anioiii; laipT ainl more ostentatious j)lants. The hedstraws 

 are numerous, mueh-hranched, traiiile, filiers-in. yet they have a certain 

 charm of their own which i^ives them their own uniiiue niche in tlie 

 woods. 'J'he hedstraws h.ave an architectural beauty, a synnnetry and 

 I'liytlnn of _i;ro\vth. 



'J'he stems are arran<:;(Ml to acconnnodate many even whorls of leallets 

 and it is these leaves in their individual size, shape, and texture which 

 serve most easily in identifyin*:- hedstraws at any time of the <rrowing 

 season. .Ml ha\c four-parted, small white llowers which are held on 

 many-ljranched. thin, th.ready steins. 



Smallest and most ornamental of the <iroup is small h(>dstraw. The 

 leaf-whorls are scarcely an inch in diameter, usually smaller, with very 

 narrow, dai'k ;,M('en leaves set in a si.\-])arted star around the angled, 

 weak stem. The llowers are a froth of white in midsummer. They appear 

 to be almost susjiended in the air above the tangle of dark green foliage. 

 The fruits which soon ajjpear are held in pairs on the tips of the stems. 



Willi licorice ((Id'iinn rircaczfins) identifies it.self at once when 

 a })iece of the plant is broken — here is the true llavor and mlor of anise 

 or licorice. The leaves are broad, oval, four of them arranged in a 

 group in whorls along th.e short stem. Wild licorice holds its stems more 

 erect than most of th.e other hedstraws and often .sends up a number of 

 stalks from a single root. Klower stems si)ring from the leaf whorls and 

 branch several tin.e: with small greenish white llowers on each. 



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