KUBIA.] RUBIACE^E. 177 



1. RU'BIA, L. MADDER. 



Perennial herbs, often woody below. Cymes axillary and terminal. Calyx- 

 limb 0, or annular. Corolla campanulate or rotate, 5-lobed. Styles 2, short, 

 connate at the base, stigmas capitate. Berry didymous or globose, succu- 

 lent. DISTRIB. Chiefly temp, regions ; species about 50. ETYM. ruber, 

 from the red dye. 



1. R. peregri'na, L. ; leaves 4-6 in a whorl elliptic or oblong. 

 Rocky copses and waste places from N. Wales, southwards and eastwards, to 

 Kent ; local in Ireland ; fi. June-Aug. Evergreen, shining, 1-2 ft., glabrous 

 except for the recurved prickles on the angles of stem, midrib, and margins 

 of the leaves. Leaves 1-3 in. Cymes panicled, longer than the leaves. 

 Corolla yellowish, i- in. diam., lobes spreading. Stamens short. Fruit small, 

 black, globose and 1-celled, or didymous. DISTRIB.- W. and S. Europe. 



2. GALIUM, L. BEDSTRAW. 



Annual or perennial herbs. Flowers minute, in axillary or terminal 

 cymes. Calyx-limb annular. Corolla rotate, 4- rarely 5-lobed. Stamens k.. 

 Styles 2, short, connate at the base ; stigmas capitate. Fruit didymous, 

 dry, often hispid or tubercled. DISTRIB. Chiefly temp, climates ; species 

 about 150. ETYM. yd\a, from some species being used to curdle milk. 

 * Perennial. Floivers yellow. Fruit glabrous, minute, smooth. 



1. G. ve'rtun, L. ; leaves in whorls of 8-12. Lady's Bedstraw. 

 Sandy banks, shores, &c. ; ascends to near 2,000 ft. in the Highlands ; fl. Ju'ne 



Sept. Pubescent; rootstock stoloniferous. Stems many, 1-3 ft., erect or 

 ascending, 4-angled. Leaves % 1 in., linear, deflexed, rough above, mucronate/ 

 margin recurved. Cymes very compound, axillary and terminal, leafy; flowers 

 2-sexual. Fruit small, black.- DISTRIB. Temp. Europe, N. Africa, Siberia 

 Dahuria ; introd. in N. America. Flowers used to curdle milk. 

 VAR. 1, ve'rum proper ; black when dry, flowers golden-yellow: Var; lu'teum, 

 Syme. VAR. 2, ochroleu'cum, Syme ; greenish when dry, flowers pale 

 yellow. Sand-hills, Deal, with O. Cruciata; perhaps a hybrid. 



2. G. Crucia'ta, Scopoli ; leaves 4 in a whorl elliptic hairy above and 

 beneath. G. cruciatum, With. ; Valantia Cruciata, L. Crosswort.' 

 Copses and hedges, from Elgin and the Hebrides southwards ; fl. April-June. 



Rootstock creeping. Stems 6 in. -2 ft., slender, decumbent, branched at the 

 base. Leaves ^-1 in., 3-nerved. Ci/mes axillary, few-flowered, peduncles 

 short ; flowers in. diam., outer male. Fruit globose, pedicels recurved. 

 DISTRIB. Europe from Holland southwards, Siberia, W. Asia. 

 ** Perennial. Cymes both axillary and terminal. Flowers white. Fruit 

 glabrous, smooth granulate or rough, very minute. 



3. G. palus'tre, L. ; stems rough prickly lax, leaves 4-6 in a whorl 

 obtuse, cymes diffuse, fruiting pedicels divaricate. 



Marshes and ditches ; ascends to near 2,000 ft. in Northumberland ; fl. July- 

 Aug. Glabrous except the leaf -margins, black when dry, very variable. 

 liootstock creeping. Stems 6 in. -3 ft., flaccid, decumbent or ascending, 

 branched throughout.' Leaves ^-1 in., shining, oblong linear or lanceolate- 

 oblong, margins with reflexed prickles. Cymes corymbose, longer than the 

 leaves. Corolla- lobes acute. Fruit minute, smooth. DISTRIB. Europe (Arctic), 

 N. Africa, Siberia, Persia, Greenland. 



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