WILD FLOWERS OF NEW YORK 267 



dark green, opposite, short petioled, ovate-orbicular, blunt at the apex, 

 usually somewhat heart-shaped at the base, one-fourth to seven-eighths 

 of an inch long. Flowers white, waxy, fragrant, borne in pairs united 

 at the base. Corolla funnelform, about one-half of an inch long with 

 four recurved or spreading lobes, densely bearded on the inner side. Stamens 

 as many as the lobes of the corolla and attached to its throat, the anthers 

 protruding from the flower. The slender style with its four threadlike 

 stigmas long exserted, in which case the stamens are not exserted, or vice 

 versa, the stamens may be exserted, in which case the style is shorter 

 than the corolla. Fruit composed of two united drupes usually containing 

 eight roundish nutlets ; when ripe the fruit is red, broader than high, one- 

 sixth to one-third of an inch in diameter, persistent through the winter 

 and edible. 



In woods, Nova Scotia to western Ontario, Minnesota and Arkansas, 

 south to Florida and Texas. Flowering in spring, from April to June and 

 sometimes flowering a second time in the autumn. Sometimes the leaves 



are whitish-veined. 



Rough Bedstraw 



Galium asprellum Michaux 



Plate 2i2a 



A weak, perennial herb, much branched and usually reclining on bushes 

 or surrounding vegetation, sometimes erect ; stems retrorsely hispid on the 

 angles, 2 to 6 feet long. Leaves in whorls of sixes or fives, or those of the 

 branches rarely in fours, narrowly oval or slightly oblanceolate, sharply 

 pointed at the apex, narrowed at the base, and sometimes appearing 

 petioled, one-third to three-fourths of an inch long, one-twelfth to one-sixth 

 of an inch wide, the margins and midrib rough. Flowers white, arranged in 

 many-flowered cymes, which are terminal and axillary. Stalks or peduncles 

 bearing the flowers short and two to three times forked. Corolla four- 

 lobed. Fruit smooth and about one-twelfth of an inch broad. 



In moist soil, Newfoundland to western Ontario and Wisconsin, south 

 to North Carolina, Illinois and Nebraska. Flowering from June to August. 



