226 



RUBIACEAE. 



[Vol. III. 



22. Galium hispidulum Michx. 

 Coast Bedstraw. (Fig. 3429.) 



Galium hispidulum Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1:79. 

 1803. 



Perennial, much branched, hirsute, hispid 

 or nearly glabrous, i-2 high. Leaves in 

 4's, 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; fruit fleshy, minutely pubescent, 

 about 2 // broad. 



In dry or sandy soil, southern New Jersey to 

 Florida and Georgia. May-Aug. 



8. SHERARDIA 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 ovoid, 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 linear-oblong, exserted. Ovary 2-celled; style 2-cleft at 

 the summit; ovules 1 in each cavity. Fruit didymous, the carpels indehiscent. Seed erect. 

 [Named for Dr. Win, Sherard, 1659-1728, patron of Dillenius.] 



A monotypic genus of the Old World. 



i. Sherardia arvensis 1^. 

 Madder. Herb Sherard. 

 (Fig. 3430. ) 



Blue Field 

 Spur wort. 



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 involucrate heads, the involucre 

 deeply 6-S-lobed, the lobes lanceolate, sharp- 

 pointed; corolla-lobes spreading ; fruit crowned 

 with the 4-6 lanceolate calyx-teeth. 



In waste places, Ontario and eastern Massachu- 

 setts. 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, in- 

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

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

 herent to the pericarp; endosperm fleshy; embryo curved. [Latin diminutive of asper, 

 rough, referring to the leaves.] 



About 80 species, natives of the Old World. 



