RUBIACE.K. (madder FAMILY.) 225 



pretty plant commemorates Dr. John Mitrhvll, an oarlv correspoudi-nt of Lin- 

 na;us, and an excellent botanist, who resided in \'irginia.) 



1. M. ripens, 1-— I >iy woods, creeping about the foot of troes, especially 

 Conifene, tliroughout our ranoe and southward. June, July. — Leave.s often 

 variegated with whitish lines Rarely the two flowers are c(nnplotelv conflu- 

 ent into one, with a 10-lobed corolla. 



6. SPERMACbCE, Dill. Bitton-wekd. 



(\alyx-tube short; the limb parted into 4 teeth. Corolla funnel form oi 

 salver-form, valvate in the bud Stamens 4. Stigma or style 2<left. Fruit 

 small and dry, 2 celled, 2-seeded, splitting when ripe into 2 carpels, one of them 

 usually carrying with it the ])artition, and therefore closed, the other open on 

 the inner face.— Small herbs, the bases of the leaves or petioles connected by 

 a bristle-bearing stipular membrane Flowers small, whitish, crowded into 

 sessile axillary whorled clusters or heads. ( Name compounded of arfpfxa, seed, 

 and aKCDKT}, <i f)oin(, probably from the pointed calyx-teeth on the fruit.) 



i. S. glabra, Michx. Glabrous perennial ; stemssi)reailing (9-20'long); 

 leaves ol)long-lai)ceolate ; heads maiiy-fl(.)wered ; corolla little exceeding the 

 calyx, beanleil in the throat, bearing the anthers at its ba.se, filaments and 

 style hardly any. — Kiver-banks, S. Ohio to Ark., Tex., and Fla. Aug. 



6. DIODIA, Gronov. Bitton-wkkd. 



Calyx-teeth 2 - 5, often unequal. Fruit 2- (rarely 3-) celled ; the crustaceous 

 carpels into which it splits all closed and indeliiscent. Flowers 1 -3 in each 

 axil. Otherwise resembling Spermacoce. Flowering all summer. (Name 

 from diodos (i tkonnujlifare ; the species often growing I)y the wayside.) 



1. D. Virginiana, L Smoothor hairy })erennial; stems s|)rcading (1 - 

 2° long) ; leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, sessile , corolla white {V long), 

 the slender tube (dirujttli/ exjHinded into the lan/e Innh ; slj/le ^-/nntcd , fruit 

 oh/onf/, stronf/li/ furroiced, crowned mostly with 2 slender calyx-teeth — Low 

 grounds along streams, southern N. J to Fla., west to Ark. and Tex. 



2. D. t^res, Walt. Hairy or minutely pubescent annual ; stem spreading 

 (3-9' long), nearly terete; leaves linear-lanceolate, closely sessile, rigid ; ro- 

 rolla funnel-form (2 -3" long, whitish), with short lobes, not exceeding the long 

 bristles of the sti])ules ; sti/le undivided ; fruit ol)()vateturbinate, not furrowed , 

 crowned with 4 short calyx-teeth. — Sandy soil, N J. to \V. 111., Fla., and Tex. 



7. GALIUM, L. Bedsthaw. Cleavers 



Calyx-teetli obsolete. Corolla 4-parted, rarely 3-parted, wheel-shaped, val- 

 vate in the bud. Stamens 4, rarely 3, short. Styles 2. Fruit dry or fleshy, 

 globular, twin, separating wlien ripe into the 2 see<l-like, indehi.scent, 1-seeded 

 carpels. — Slender herbs, with sniivll cyniose flowers (pnwluced in summer), 

 square stems, and whorled leaves, the roots often containing a red ct)loring 

 matter. (Name from 7dAo, milk, which some sjKJcie.H are used to curdle.) 

 § 1 . Naturalized species ; fruit dri/. 



G. vihiuM, L. (Yei.i.ow Bedsthaw.) Perennial; .«<toms smooth, erect ; 

 leaves 8 or sometimes 6 in the whorls, linear, roughish, .soon deflexed ; flowers 



15 



