RUBIACEvE. CCXVI. GALIUM. 



655 



Far. ft, trachyphyllum (Wallr. 1. c.) stems and leaves rather 

 scabrous ; fruit glabrous ; flowers deep yellow. I/ . H. Native 

 of Europe and Caucasus, in open places. Mill. fig. t. 129. 

 Oed. fl. dan. t. 1146. Mart. fl. rust. t. 54. Curt. fl. lond. 6. t. 

 13. Smith, engl. bot. t. 660. G. verum pubescens, Guss. prod. 

 171. G. tubereulatum, Presl, del. prag. p. 120. 



Far. /3, trachycdrpum (D. C. prod. 4. p. 603.) stems and 

 leaves rather scabrous ; fruit hairy. I/ . H. Native of Eastern 

 Caucasus, on the Lower Volga, &c. G. verum var. Gold, in 

 litt. G. verosimile, Schultes, syst. 3. p. 234. ? Perhaps G. 

 Caucasicum, Lag. cat. hort. madr. p. 95. 



Var. S, martiimum (D. C. fl. fr. 4. p. 248.) stems low, much 

 branched, glabrous at the base, villous at the apex ; ovaries 

 glabrous, i;. H. Native of Armoracia, in sand by the sea 

 side. 



Far. e, tomentosum (Meyer, verz. pfl. p. 54.) stems and fruit 

 densely clothed with tomentum. Tf.. H. Native of Caucasus, 

 on the tops of the Talusch mountains near Drych. 



The common name Bed-straw given to all the species is from 

 the verb to strew, anciently written straw. Before the invention 

 of feather-beds a variety of herbs were used to strew beds with ; 

 among these doubtless this was one. In Johnson's edition of 

 Gerard, it is called our Ladies' Bed-straw (p. 1127.). From the 

 notion of its curdling milk, Dioscorides has named it yaXiov ; 

 and it is said to have been used in many parts for this purpose, 

 but from later experiments it has not succeeded in coagulating 

 milk. It has probably been put into milk destined to make 

 cheese, not so much for the purpose of curdling it, as of giving 

 it a flavour, or as Matthiolus expresses it, to make it eat the 

 sweeter. The French formerly prescribed the flowers in hysteric 

 and epileptic cases. Boiled in alum-water the flowering stems 

 dye a good yellow colour. The roots dye a very fine red, not 

 inferior to madder. 



True Ladies' Bed-straw or Cheese-rennet. Fl. July, Aug. 

 Britain. PI. 1 to 2 feet. 



86 G. RUTHE'NICUM (Willd. spec. 1. p. 596.) leaves 8 in a 

 whorl, linear-filiform, cuspidate, with revolute scabrous margins; 

 stems also scabrous; flowers panicled; peduncles pubescent; 

 fruit hispid from villi. I/. H. Native of Siberia and Cauca- 

 sus, growing along with G. verum. Flowers deep yellow. 



Far. ft, rosmarinifolium (Ledeb. fl. alt. 1. p. 138.) leaves 8-10 

 j in a whorl, linear, shining above and pubescent, and clothed 

 with hoary tomentum beneath, with revolute edges ; stems to- 

 mentose suffruticose at the base ; panicle coarctate ; fruit vil- 

 lous. Tj.. H. Native of Siberia, at the river Tschuja, in the 

 Karaic desert in dry exposed places. 



Ruthian Lady's Bed-straw. PL 1 foot. 



87 G. VE RO-MOLLU'GO (Wallr. in Schiede, pi. hybr. p. 64.) 

 stems tetragonal, rather downy ; leaves sublanceolate-linear, 

 rather scabrous, with revolute scabrous edges, downy beneath ; 

 panicles rather divaricate ; flowers rather distant ; corollas cream 

 coloured, with acutish segments. I/ . H. Native of Germany. 



i This is a hybrid raised from the seed of G. verum, impregnated 

 ! by G. Mollugo. G. verum ft, Roem. et Schultes, syst. 3. p. 233. 

 G. Mollugo var. ochreoleuca of authors. 



Fero-Mollugo or Hybrid Ladies' Bed-straw. PI. 1 to 2 feet. 



88 G. TUNETA'NUM (Lam. diet. 2. p. 583.) stems erect, terete, 

 , canescent ; leaves 8-10 in a whorl, linear, downy, with rough 



revolute edges ; peduncles many flowered, disposed in a pani- 

 cle ; fruit hispid. "%.. F. Native of Tunis, about Algiers in 

 hedges. Desf. fl. atl. 1. p. 129. Poir. voy. 2. p. 110. Stems 

 villous. Flowers yellow. Resembles G. verum. 

 Tunis Bed- straw. PI. 1 to 2 feet. 



89 G. MINU'TUM (Lin. spec. p. 154.) stems decumbent, 

 smooth ; leaves 8 in a whorl, lanceolate, mucronate, serrated 

 from prickles, glabrous, incurved ; peduncles reflexed ; fruit 



fleshy. If,. H. Native of Russia. Gmel. sib. 3. p. 169. no. 

 45. Flowers yellow. The plant resembles G. verum very 

 much, and is probably only a variety of it. 

 Minute Bed-straw. PI. decumbent. 



90 G. HUMIFU'SUM (Bieb. fl. taur. l.p. 104.) stems prostrate, 

 much branched, villous ; leaves 6 in a whorl, linear, spreading 

 much, villous ; floriferous branches axillary, aggregate ; lobes of 

 corolla acutish ; fruit downy. I/ . H. Native of Caucasus, 

 Tauria, on the lower Volga, in exposed places, and by way sides 

 common. Corollas cream-coloured ; anthers yellow. Habit and 

 inflorescence like that of G. verum. 



Trailing Bed -straw. PI. trailing. 



91 G. ARENA'RIUM (Lois. fl. gall. p. 85.) plant glabrous ; stems 

 prostrate, much branched ; leaves 6-10 in a whorl, linear-oblong, 

 short-apiculated, thick, with revolute rather scabrous edges ; 

 corymbs small, on short peduncles, crowded into a panicle ; fruit 

 glabrous, rather fleshy. If.. H. Native of the west of France, 

 from Bayonne even to Armoracea on the south, in the sand by the 

 seaside. D. C. fl. fr. suppl. p. 495. G. hierosolymitanum, Thor. 

 chl. land. 40. but not of Lin. G. megalospermum var. ft, D. 

 C. fl. fr. ed. 3. no. 3350. exclusive of var. a. G. minutum, Aubr. 

 morb. p. 16. Flowers yellow, varying from 3-5-cleft. Distinct 

 from the sea side variety of G. verum. 



Sand Bed-straw. PI. prostrate. 



7. Ericogalia (from erica, a heath, and galium; the habit of 

 the species is that of E'rica). D. C. prod. 4. p. 604. Perennial 

 or suffruticose plants. Leaves 4-6 in a whorl. Inflorescence axil- 

 lary. Flowers hermaphrodite. 



92 G. ERJCOIDES (Lam. diet. 2. p. 583.) stems suffruticose, 

 much branched, downy ; leaves approximate, 4-5 in a whorl, 

 linear-lanceolate, with revolute margins, apiculated, stiff, smooth- 

 ish ; flowers axillary, nearly sessile, solitary, bibracteate ; corolla 

 pilose outside ; fruit covered with stiff short hairs, fy . G. 

 Native of Monte-Video and Chili. Cham, et Schlecht. in Lin- 

 nsea. 3. p. 225. Larger leaves 2-3 lines long, and the smaller 

 ones only half a line. Flowers minute, cream-coloured. Fas- 

 cicles of leaves sessile, hence the plant has the habit of a heath. 

 Stems decumbent. 



Far. ft, intermedium (Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaea. 3. p. 

 225.) plant shrubby, clothed with short down ; leaves linear, 

 quite glabrous, ending in a long cusp each. ^ G. Native of 

 Brazil, in Campo d'Utna. 



Far. y, atherbdes (Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaea. 3. p. 225.) 

 quite glabrous in every part, as also the fruit ; leaves linear, 

 with revolute edges. 17 . G. Native of Brazil, in Estrella do 

 Campo Aguda. G. atherodes, Spreng. cur. post. p. 39. 



Heath-like Bed-straw. PL decumbent. 



93 G. HI'RTUM (Lam. diet. 2. p. 583.) root woody ; stems 

 herbaceous, branched, tetragonal, very leafy, hispid ; leaves 4-5 

 in a whorl, sessile, lanceolate, more or less hairy on both sur- 

 faces ; flowers axillary, verticillate, nearly sessile, bibracteate ; 

 lobes of corolla acute ; fruit glabrous, tubercular. If. . G. Native 

 of the south of Brazil and Monte- Video. Cham, et Schlecht. in 

 Linnaea. 3. p. 224. Req. diss. mss. G. reflexum, Pohl, in litt. 

 G. megapotamicum, Spreng. cur. post. p. 39. ex Cham, et 

 Schlecht. in Linnaea. Stems decumbent or erect. Flowers yel- 

 low. Inflorescence of G. verticil/atum. 



Hairy Bed-straw. PI. decumbent or erect. 



94 G. CAMPORUM (Pohl, in litt. ex D. C. prod. 4. p. 604.) 

 plant quite glabrous; stems erect, tetragonal; leaves 4 in a 

 whorl, sessile, linear, acutish, spreading, with revolute edges, 

 more or less ciliated ; flowers axillary, almost sessile ; fruit 

 finely granulated. Native of Brazil, where it was collected by 

 Pohl. Flowers small. Fruit almost like that of G. spurium, 

 but differs in being almost sessile. Leaves 4 lines long. Allied 



