RUBIACEjE. 151 



bose. Capsule 2-celled, 2-seeded, mostly 2-parted. Recep- 

 tacle globose, hairy. Flowers in a globose head. 



C. occidentalis Linn. : leaves petiolate, opposite or ternate, ovate or oval, 

 acuminate, smoothish ; peduncles long, often ternate at the extremity of the 

 branches. 



Borders of ponds and streams. Can. to Flor. W. to Miss. July, Aug. T?. 

 Stem 4 8 feet liigh, branched. Heads of flowers about an inch in diameter. 

 Corolla white, somewhat funnel-form. Button Bush. Pond Dogwood. 



4. DIODIA. Linn. Diodia. 



(.Said to be derived from the Greek SioSus, a road or way ; in allusion to its 

 growing by way-sides. Eat. Man.) 



Calyx with the tube ovate or abovate, often 8-nerved, 2 4- 

 toothed. Corolla funnel-form, 4-lobed. Stamens 4, exserted 

 or included. Style bifid or undivided. Fruit crowned with the 

 calyx, 2-celled, bipartite; carpel 1-seeded. 



D. iercs Walt.: stem procumbent, diffuse, terete, hairy; leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, nearly smooth, margin and keel serrulate ; stipules with nume- 

 rous long bristles; flowers axillary, solitary, alternate; corolla bearded 

 within ; fruit ovate, pubescent, crowned by the 4-lobed calyx. Spermacoce 

 diodina Mich. 



Sandy fields. N. J. to Flor. and Louis. W. to Ark. Aug. (1). Stem 416 

 inches high, much branched. Flowers opposite, often clustered, white or pale 

 purple. Terete Diodia. 



5. GALIUM. Linn. Bedstraw. 



(From the Greek yaAci, milk ; one of the species having been formerly used to 

 curdle milk.) 



Calyx with the tube ovate-globose or oblong ; limb nearly 

 wanting. Corolla 4-parted, rotate, (very rarely 3-parted.) Sta- 

 mens short. Styles 2, short. Fruit didymous, roundish, rarely 

 oblong. 



* Fruit smooth. Flowers yellow. 



1. G. verum Linn. : leaves about 8 in a whorl, narrow-linear, grooved, 

 scabrous, with somewhat revolute margins ; flowers in dense panicles. 



Pastures. Mass. June, July. It- Stem erect, 9 18 inches high, slender, 

 branched. Flowers yellow. Employed by the Highlanders as a rennet to cur- 

 dle milk. Hook.Br.Fl. 



** Fruit smooth. Flowers while. 



2. G. trifidum Linn. : stem decumbent or ascending, scabrous downward ; 

 leaves 4 6 in a whorl, linear, obtuse, scabrous on the margin and midrib ; 

 peduncles smooth, spreading, 1 3-flowered; corolla 3 4-cleft. G. Claytoni 

 Mich. G. obtusum His;. 



Swamps and wet. fields. Arct. Amer. to Car. W. to Oregon. June, July. 

 7J-. Stem 5 inches to 1 or 2 feet long, much branched. 7>crtvw varying froin 



