MADDER TRIBE. 305 



stems are scarcely branched, 1 2 feet long. Fl. May, 

 June. Perennial. 



2. G. verum (Yellow Bed-straw). Leaves about 8 in 

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

 often downy below. Dry banks, especially near the sea, 

 where it forms a conspicuous object with its dense pani- 

 cles of golden-yellow flowers. The Highlanders use the 

 roots, in conjunction with alum, to dye red, and the 

 rest of the plant as rennet to curdle milk. Fl. July, 

 August. Perennial. 



** Flowers white. 

 t Fruit smooth. 



3. G. Mollugo (Hedge Bed-straw). Leaves 8 in a 

 whorl, oblong, tapering at each end, with a bristly point, 

 roughish at the edge ; flowers in a loose, spreading 

 panicle. Common everywhere in England, but said to 

 be less frequent in Scotland. This and G. Aparine are 

 the most abundant species, and resemble one another in 

 having long straggling stems ; G. Aparine has the 

 prickles pointing backwards, and clings to the dress 

 when touched, but in the present species, the prickles 

 on the edges of the leaves are weak and point forwards. 

 Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



4. v 6r. palustre (Water Bed-straw). Leaves 4 6 in 

 a whorl, oblong, blunt, tapering at the base ; stem weak, 

 straggling, more or less rough ; flowers in loose, spread- 

 ing panicles. Watery places, common. 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. Fl. July, 

 August. Perennial. 



5. G. uliginosum (Eough Marsh Bed-straw). Leaves 

 6 8 in a whorl, narrow, tapering at both ends, bristle- 

 pointed, their edges as well as the angles of the stem 

 rough with prickles, which point backwards. Watery 



