MADDER FAMILY. 175 



2. Frail dry when ripe, small. 



* Smooth : leaves with strong midrib but no side ribs or nerves : flowers ivhite, 



loosely clustered at the end of spreading brunches. 



G. asprdllum, HOUGH BEDSTRAW. Low thickets: 3 - 5 high, as it 

 were climbing, the backwardly prickly-roughened angles of the stem and edges 

 and midrib of the lance-obiong pointed leaves adhering to contiguous plants ; 

 leaves in whorls of 6 on the stem and of 4 or 5 on the branchlets : flowers 

 numerous. 



G. trifidum, SMALL B. Swamps and low grounds, 6' - 2 high, roughish 

 or sometimes nearly smooth ; leaves varying from linear to oblong, 4 - 6 in the 

 whorls ; flowers rather few, their parts often 3. 



* * Fruit smooth or slightly bristly : leaves 3-nerved : flowers white, in a narrow 



and long terminal panicle. 3 



G. boreale, NORTHERN B. Rocky banks of streams N. ; l-2 high, 

 smooth, erect, with lance-linear leaves in fours. 



* * * Fruit a little bur, being covered ivilh hooked prickles. 



+- Leaves mostly B or 8 in a whorl, with midrib and no side nerves : flowers whitish 

 or greenish : stems reclining or prostrate, bristly-rough backwards on the angles. 



G. Aparine, CLEAVERS or GOOSE-GRASS. Low grounds : leaves in 

 eights, lanceolate, rough-edged, 1 ' - 2' long ; peduncles axillary, 1 - 2-flowered ; 

 fruit large. 



G. trifldrum, SWEET-SCENTED BEDSTRAW. Woodlands, especially N. : 

 leaves mostly" in sixes, lance-oblong, bristle-pointed ; peduncles terminating the 

 branches, 3-nowered. Sweet-scented in drying. "^ 



- - Leaves all in fours, more or less 3 nerved : flowers not white : stems ascending, 

 about 1 high, rather simple, not prickly-roughened. ^ 



G. pi!6sum. Commonest S., in dry thickets : leaves oval, dotted, downy, 

 1 ' long ; flowers brown-purple or cream -colored, all pcdicelled, the peduncle 

 2-3-times forked. Var. PUXCTICUI^SUM is a smooth form S. 



G. cirC86zans, WILD LIQUORICE, the root being sweetish: common in 

 thickets ; leaves oval or oblong, obtuse, ciliate ; peduncles once forked, their 

 long branches bearing short-pedicelled dull or brownish flowers along the sides, 

 the fruit reflexed. 



G. lanceolatum, like the preceding, common N. ; but with lanceolate or 

 lance-ovate tapering leaves, 2' long. 



3. DIODIA, BUTTON- WEED. (Name from Greek for a thoroughfare, 

 being humble weeds, often growing by the wayside.) Fl. all summer, white 

 or whitish. 



D. Virginica. Sandy banks from Maryland S. ; with spreading stems 

 1 - 2 long, broadly lanceolate sessile leaves, salver-shaped corolla |' long, 

 2-parted style, and oblong fruit crowned with 2 calyx-teeth. ^/ 



D. t6res. Sandy fields from N. Jersey and Illinois S. ; with slender stems 

 3' - 0' long, linear and rigid leaves, small corolla rather shorter than the long 

 bristles of the stipules, undivided style, and obovate little fruit crowned with 

 the 4 short calyx-teeth. (T) 



4. MITCHELL A, PARTRIDGE-BERRY. ( Named for Dr. J. Mitchell, 

 who corresponded from Virginia with Linnaeus.) Fl. in early summer. ^ 

 M. ripens, the only species, common in woods ; a little herb, creeping over 



the ground, with the small evergreen leaves round-ovate, very smooth and 

 glossy, bright green, sometimes with whitish lines, short-petioled ; the flowers * 

 pretty and sweet-scented ; the scarlet fruit remaining over winter, eatable, but 

 dry and almost tasteless. 



6. CEPHALANTHTTS, BUTTON-BUSH. (Name from Greek words 

 for head and flower. ) Fl. summer and autumn. 



C. OCCidentalis, the only species, is a tall shrub, common along the bor 



