224 



i6. 



RUBIACEAE. [Vol. Ill- 



Galium tinctdrium L,. Stiff Marsh Bedstraw. Wild Madder. 



(Fig. 3423.) 



Galium tinctorium L,. Sp. PI. 106. 1753. 



Galium trifidum var. latifolium Torr. Fl. N. & Mid. 



States, 78. 1826. 

 Galium obtusum Bigelow, Fi. Bost. Ed. 2, 55. 1824. 



Perennial; stem erect, 6'-i^ high, rather stiff, 

 branched almost to the base, the branches com- 

 monly solitary, strict (not irregularly diffuse), 

 several times forked; stem 4-angled, nearly gla- 

 brous; leaves commonly in 4's, linear to lanceo- 

 late, y^-i' long; broadest below the middle, ob- 

 tuse, cuneate at the base, dark green and dull, not 

 papillose, i-nerved, the margins and midrib rough- 

 ish; flowers terminal in clusters of 2 or 3; pedicels 

 slender, not much divaricate in fruit; corolla 

 white, large, l // -i^f // broad, 4-parted, its lobes 

 oblong, acute; disk large; fruit smooth; seed 

 spherical, hollow, annular in cross-section. 



Damp shady places, wet meadows and swamps, 

 Canada to North Carolina and Tennessee, west to 

 Michigan, Nebraska and Arizona. May-July. 



Galium tinctorium filifolium Wiegand, Bull. Torr. Club, 24: 397. 1897. 

 More slender than the type and often more diffuse; leaves almost filiform, 1" wide or less, not 

 broader below the middle, strongly cellular-papillose; inflorescence more open; pedicels slender; 

 bracts minute; flowers in 2's or 3's; corolla larger. Sandy places in swamps, Virginia to Florida, 

 along the coast. 



Galium tinctorium Labradoricum Wiegand, Bull. Torr. Club, 24: 398. 1897. 

 Low and strictly erect, 2'-io' high; branches few, ascending, mostly from the upper nodes; 

 stem as in the type; leaves small, 3"-4" long, linear, reflexed; flowers large. In sphagnous bogs, 

 Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin to Labrador. 



17. Galium trifidum I,. Small Bedstraw. 

 Small Cleavers. (Fig. 3424.) 



Galium trifidum L,. Sp. PI. 105. 1753. 



G. trifidum var. pusillum A. Gray, Man. Ed. 5, 209. 1867. 



Perennial by slender rootstocks, very slender and 

 weak; stem ascending, i6 / long or less, much branched 

 and intertangled; stem sharply 4-angled, rough; branches 

 commonly in 2's; leaves in 4's, linear-spatulate, 2^2 // -7 // 

 long,obtuse, cuneate at the base, i-nerved,dark green and 

 dull on both surfaces, scarcely papillose, the margins 

 and midrib retrorse-scabrous; flowers small, on lateral 

 or terminal pedicels which are capillary and much longer 

 than the leaves, commonly two at each node or three 

 terminal; corolla very small, white, %" long, trifid, its 

 lobes broadly oval, very obtuse; fruit glabrous; seed 

 spherical and hollow, annular in cross-section. 



Sphagnous bogs and cold swamps, Maine to southern New 

 York, Ohio, Nebraska, Colorado and northward. Summer. 



18. Galium Claytoni Michx. Clayton's Bedstraw 



Galium Claytoni Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1; yc 

 Galium tinctorium Bigelow, Fl. Bost. Ed. 2, 54. 



1824. 



Perennial; stem erect or ascending, more diffuse 

 when old, 6'-2 high; stem slender or sometimes 

 quite stout, sharply 4-angled, more or less rough, the 

 diffuse branches in 2's; leaves of medium size, 4 // -8 // 

 long, commonly in 5's or 6's, linear-spatulate or spatu- 

 late-oblong, obtuse, cuneately narrowed into a short 

 petiole, rather firm in texture, scabrous on the mar- 

 gin and midrib, dark green and dull above, not papil- 

 lose, discolored in drying; flowers in clusters of 2's or 

 3's, terminal, provided with 1 or 2 minute bracts; 

 pedicels straight, in fruit strongly divaricate, glabrous 

 and rather stout; corolla minute, white, 3-parted, 

 the lobes broadly oval, obtuse; fruit glabrous; seed 

 spherical and hollow, annular in cross-section. 



Swamps, Massachusetts and New York to North Caro- 

 lina, Michigan, Missouri and Texas. May-July. 



