z66 



RUBIACEAE. 



VOL. III. 



24. Galium bermudense L. Coast Bed- 

 straw. Fig. 3951. 



Galium bermudense .L. Sp. PI. 105. 1753. 

 Galium hispidulum Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 79. 



1803. 

 Relbunium bermudense Britten, Journ. Bot. 47 : 



42. 1909. 



Perennial, much branched, hirsute, hispid 

 or nearly glabrous, i-2 high. Leaves in 4*5, 

 i-nerved, oval, mucronate, rather thick, 3"-io" 

 long, i|"-4" wide, the margins more or less 

 revolute in drying; flowers few, terminating 

 the branchlets, white ; pedicels 3"~4" long, 

 rather stout, becoming deflexed-in fruit, some- 

 times i-bracteolate ; fruit fleshy, purplish, mi- 

 nutely pubescent, becoming glabrate, about 2" 

 broad. 



In dry or sandy soil, southern New Jersey to 

 Florida and Georgia. Bermuda ; Bahamas. May- 

 Aug. 



8. SHERARDIA [Dill.] L. Sp. PI. 102. 1753. 



Slender annual procumbent or diffuse herbs, with verticillate spiny-pointed leaves, and 

 small nearly sessile pink or blue flowers, in terminal and axillary involucrate heads. Calyx- 

 tube obovoid, its limb 4-6-lobed, the lobes lanceolate, persistent. Corolla funnelform, 4-5-lobed, 

 the tube as long as the lobes or longer. Stamens 4 or 5, inserted on the tube of the corolla; 

 filaments slender ; anthers small, oblong, exserted. Ovary 2-celled ; style 2-cleft at the sum- 

 mit; ovules I in each cavity. Fruit didymous, the carpels indehiscent. Seed erect. [Named 

 for Dr. William Sherard, 1659-1728, patron of Dillenius.] 



A monotypic genus of the Old World. 



i. Sherardia arvensis L. Blue Field 



Madder. Herb Sherard. Spurwort. 



Fig- 3952. 



Sherardia arvensis L. Sp. PI. 102. 1753. 



Tufted, roughish, stems numerous, prostrate, 

 ascending, or decumbent, 3'-io' long. Leaves in 

 4's, 5's or 6's, the upper linear or lanceolate, acute 

 and sharp-pointed, rough-ciliate on the margins, 

 3"-8" long, i"-2" wide, the lower often obovate, 

 mucronate; flowers in slender-peduncled involu- 

 crate heads, the involucre deeply 6-8-lobed, the 

 lobes lanceolate, sharp-pointed; corolla-lobes 

 spreading ; fruit crowned with the 4-6 lanceolate 

 calyx-teeth. 



In waste places, Ontario to eastern Massachusetts 

 and New Jersey. Also in Bermuda. Adventive from 

 Europe. June-July. 



9. ASPERULA L. Sp. Pi. 103. 1753. 



Erect or ascending branching perennial herbs, with 4-angled stems, verticillate leaves, and 

 small white pink or blue flowers in terminal or axillary, mostly cymose clusters. Calyx-tube 

 somewhat didymous, the limb obsolete. Corolla funnelform, 4-lobed. Stamens 4, inserted 

 on the tube or throat of the corolla ; anthers linear or oblong. Ovary 2-celled ; ovules I in 

 each cavity; style 2-cleft. Fruit globose-didymous, the carpels indehiscent. Seed adherent 

 to the pericarp; endosperm fleshy; embryo curved. [Latin diminutive of asper, rough, refer- 

 ring to the leaves.] 



About 80 species, natives of the Old World. Type species: Asperula odorata L. 



Leaves oblong-lanceolate to obovate; fruit hispid. i. A. odorata. 



Leaves linear, i" wide or less; fruit smooth. 2. A. galioides. 



