MADDER TRIBE 



139 



from the Greek, gala, milk, for curdling which some species are 

 used.) 



3. Asperula (Woodruff). Corolla funnel-shaped ; stamens 4 ; 

 fruit dry, 2-lobed, 2-seeded, not crowned by the calyx. (Name 

 from the Latin, asper, rough, from the roughness of the leaves of 

 some species.) 



4. Sherardia (Field Madder). Corolla funnel-shaped ; stamens 

 4 ; fruit dry, 2-lobed, 2-seeded, crowned by the calyx. (Named in 

 honour of James Sherard, an eminent English botanist.) 



Rubia Perkgrina 

 (Wild Madder) 



I. Rubia (Madder) 



1. R. peregrina (Wild Madder). The only 

 British species. A long straggling plant, 

 many feet in length, with recurved prickles 

 on the edges of its 4-angled stems, and on 

 the edges of its rough leaves, which grow , 

 in whorls of 4-6, are glossy above, and^ 

 recurved at the margin. The flowers are 

 greenish yellow, with 5-cleft corollas, and 

 grow in panicles ; the berries remain attached 

 to the plant until late in winter ; they are 

 black, 2-lobed, and about as big as currants. 

 Rocky, bushy places in the south and west 

 of England ; uncommon. Fl. June to August. 

 Perennial. 



2. Galium (Bedstraw) 



1. G. cruciata (Crosswort, Maywort). Stems scarcely branched, 

 prostrate or ascending ; leaves in whorls of 4, ovate, downy on 

 both sides ; flowers yellow, fragrant, growing in cymes of 6-8 in 

 the axils of the leaves, the tipper ones having pistils only, the lower 

 stamens only ; fruit smooth. Bushy hedges ; common. Fl. May, 

 June. Perennial. 



2. G. verum (Yellow Bedstraw, Lady's Bedstraw). Leaves 

 about 8 in a whorl, very narrow (almost thread-like), grooved, and 

 often downy below ; flowers small, yellow, in a conspicuous panicle. 

 The Highlanders use the roots in conjunction with alum to dye 

 red, and the rest of the plant as rennet to curdle milk. Dry banks ; 

 common. Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



3. G. palustre (Water Bedstraw). Leaves 4-6 in a whorl, oblong, 

 blunt, tapering at the base ; stem weak, straggling, more or less 

 rough ; flowers small, white, in loose spreading panicles. Variable 

 in size and roughness, likely to be confounded with the following, 

 from which it differs in its superior size and blunt leaves, which are 

 frequently unequal in length, especially in the upper whorls. Watery 

 places ; common. Fl. July, Aupvct, Perennial. 



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