390 RUBIACE^. (madder FAMILY.) 



lous or glabrous : mericarps oblong — Spring — Subalpine Lebanon ; 

 el-Jebel-el-Abiau, between Hamath and Palmyra. 



34. O. bracteatum, Boiss. .04 to .08, papillose-scabrous ; 

 stems simple or numerous, mz^cA- l)ranched in whorls. Leaves in sixes to 

 eights, linear-spathulate, very obtuse, the upper linear .; floral solitary, 

 usually longer than sessile or siibsessile cyme. Flowers polygamous, the 

 central perfect, the lateral staminate ; ovary densely beset with white, 

 conical papillae — May — Deir-el-Ahmar in the Buqa', and eastward. 



35. O. coroiiatuni, S. et Sm. If .15 to .4, shrubby at base, 

 glabrous, or more or less pubescent. Leaves in fours, the lower linear 

 to linear-elliptical and elliptical-obovate, small, 1-nerved, the upper 

 round-olovate, growing, at length parchment-like, many-nerved. Mer- 

 icarps .004 in diameter, wrinkled, ^ZaS^'c^ws or Airsw^d — April to June 



— Dry places, in mountains and interior plains, to subalpine and al- 

 pine regions. 



Var. glabra in, Post. Glabrous or glabrescent. 



Var. pubesceus, Post. Pubescent. 



Var. stenophyllum, Boiss. Lower leaves linear to ellijytical- 

 Zmmr, .01 to ,02 long — Gilead to Antilebanon, Nusairy Mountains, 

 Cassius, Aintab, and northward. 



36. O. Pedemontaniim, All. Stems slender, simple, 

 erect, retrorsely aculeolate, otherwise glabrous or hirsute. Leaves 

 in fours, elliptical-oblong, 3-nerved, at length reflexed. Fruit glah'ous 



— June — Af qa. 



37. O. articulatuin, L. .lto.2, glabrous, generally many- 

 stemmed from neck. he-dYes in foui'S ; lower oiovate, obtuse, tapering 

 to a 2)etiole ; ^oral cordate, growing a.t length, parchment-like, many- 

 nerved. Mericarps .003 to .003 in diameter, striate with appressed, 

 white papillce — Spring — Fields and waste places ; common through- 

 out. 



§. ASPERIJL.A, L. WooDROoF. 



Flowers perfect, solitary or clustered, irregularly bracteate at 

 base. Calyx-limb obsolete. Corolla funnel-shaped or campanulate, 

 with 4-5, unappendaged lobes. Mericarps dry, hemispherical — Herbs 

 or small shrubs, distinguished from Galium by the funnel-shaped 

 corolla. 



* Perennials. Flowers 5-merous, in opposite fascicles, forming interrupted 

 terminal spATces. 



1. A. gloineratum, M.B. If .1 to .3, glaucous, shrubby at 

 base ; stems ascending, brittle, more or less ])uberulent. Leaves in 

 sixes, linear, revolute at margin, scabrous. Lower fascicles of flowers 

 short-peduncled, the upper sessile ; bracts broader than leaves, lanceo - 

 late-linear ; corolla yellowish-green ; mericarps oblong, glabrous or 

 puberulent — Summer — Highest alpine regions of Lebanon and Anti- 

 lebanon. 



* * Annuals. Flowers 4:-merous, capitate, hlue or whitish jUsh-colored. 



2. A. arveniis, L. .2 to .5, erect, branching. Lower 

 leaves in fours, obovate, the others in sixes and eights, linear, obtuse. 

 Leaves of involucre as long as or a little longer than blue jloioers ; lobes 



