Cleavers. 



109 



observe, first, that the stem is quadrangular, not round ; 

 secondly, that the leaves are lance-shaped, not oval ; 

 and thirdly, that both stem and leaves are edged with 

 little sharp curved prickles, pointing backward the 

 opposite way to the general growth of the plant. 

 Let us try to find out what is the origin and meaning 

 of these three marked peculiarities. 



To do so rightly we must begin by considering 

 the near relations of the goose-grass. In a systematic 

 botanical classification our 

 plant is ranked as one of 

 the stellate tribe, a subdi- 

 vision of the great family of 

 the Rubiaceje, or madder 

 kind. Now, the stellates are 

 so called because of their 

 little star-shaped flowers, and 

 they arc all characterised by 

 two of these goose-grass 

 peculiarities — namely, the square stems and the 

 whorlcd leaves — while the third point, the possession 

 of recurved prickles on the angles of the stalk and 

 the edges of the leaves, is a special personal habit of 

 the goose-grass species itself, with one or two more of 

 its near relations. It will be best for us, therefore, to 

 ask first what is the origin and meaning of the charac- 



FiG. 24. — Stem of Cleavers. 



