254 SUMMER FLOWERS. 



(138) Rubia. Madder. 



B. peregrina : stems straggling, dwarf, or trailing over 

 bushes to the length of several feet, clinging by means of 

 short recurved prickles ; leaves 4-6, in a whorl, ovate-oblong 

 or lanceolate, nearly sessile ; flowers small, greenish, in loose 

 axillary or terminal panicles, rather longer than the leaves ; 

 fruit a small black two-lobed berry. — Dry woods and stony 

 places, n. June to August. 



(139) Galium. 



* Floivers yellow. 



G. cruciatum : stems prostrate or creeping, the flowering 

 ones erect or ascending, \-\ \ foot long, hairy ; leaves in 

 whorls of four, ovate, hairy on both sides; flowers small, 

 yellow, in little leafy axillary cymes or clusters, the fertile 

 ones few and often five-lobed ; fruits small, smooth, almost 

 succulent. — Crosswort. — Hedge-banks and bushy places. Fl. 

 May, June. 



G. verum : glabrous, or with only a slight asperity on the 

 edges of the leaves ; stems ^-1 foot high, much branched at 

 the base, decumbent or ascending ; leaves small, linear, in 

 whorls of 6-8 \ flowers small, yellow, numerous, in an oblong 

 terminal panicle ; fruits small, smooth. — Ladies' Eedstraw. — 

 Banks and pastures. Fl. July, August. 



** Flowers white. 

 t Fruits smooth or granulated. 

 X Leaves in whorls of four. 

 G. palustre : stems one foot or more long, glabrous, with 

 few spreading branches, almost always rough on the angles ; 

 leaves mostly four in a whorl, linear or oblong, obtuse, usually 

 rough on the edges; flowers small, white, not numerous, in 



