CLASS I\T. ORDER I.j GALTTTM. 187 



prickles. Leaves in rather distant whorls of from six to eight, lanceo- 

 late, tapering at the base, pale at the point, and terminating in a bristle 

 of variable length, green, and scattered over with somewhat hooked 

 bristles on the upper side ; the under side pale, smooth, except the mid- 

 rib, which, like the margins, is fringed with reflexed prickles. Inflo* 

 rescence in axillary clusters of few flowers; peduncles about as long as 

 the leaves, supporting from one to four pale yellowish flowers. Fruit 

 a double globe, thickly clothed with hooked prickles. 



Habitat. Hedges and bushes ; abundant. 



Annual ; flowering during the summer months. 



This plant was called by the Greeks Philanthropon, from an idea 

 which they entertained, that the ready manner in which the seeds attach 

 themselves to our habiliments was owing to their love of the human 

 species. The hooked extremity of the hairs by which they are covered, 

 will give a more satisfactory solution of their adhesion, and afford a 

 ready means of dispersing them into various situations suitable to their 

 growth. The seeds are said to form, when roasted, a very good substi- 

 tute for coffee, far superior to roasted corn. The plant, we are informed 

 by Linnaeus, is used in Sweden as a kind of sieve, for which purpose 

 the roughness of its stems and leaves renders it very suitable. It is 

 thought by some country-people to be a great purifier of the blood, for 

 which purpose it is often found to form a part of their spring or herb- 

 broths. The expressed juice is said to be a useful aperient in some 

 kinds of dropsy, and extolled as a remedy against cancerous affections ; 

 but the test of experience does not confirm its utility in such diseases. 



16. G. borea'le, Linn. (Fig. 237.) cross-leaved Bed-straw. Leaves 

 four in a whorl, lanceolate, three-ribbed, smooth, with rough 

 edges ; stem erect. 



English Botany, t. 105. English Flora, vol. i. p. 209. Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 130. Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 68. 



Root with reddish, creeping underground steins. Stem erect, from 

 one to two feet high, square, smooth and shining, or roughish with 

 short rigid pubescence ; branches short, numerous, opposite, bearing 

 numerous whorls of four lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate leaves, green 

 and smooth above, paler and with three prominent ribs beneath ; the 

 margins, the ribs, and frequently the whole of the under side, roughisb. 

 Inflorescence in compound terminal and lateral branched panicles, each 

 division having one or two floral leaves. Flowers numerous, white. 

 Corolla of four spreading, somewhat hairy, acute, three-ribbed seg- 

 ments. Fruit of two globose or kidney-shaped seeds, thickly clothed 

 with pale hooked bristles. 



Habitat. Moist rocky places ; not unfrequent in the North of Eng- 

 land, Scotland, and Ireland. 



Perennial; flowering in June and July. 



