90 SPRING FLORA 



1. PLANTAGO. Plantain; Rib-grass. 



Flowers greenish or purplish, in terminal scape-like spikes 

 or heads. Petals veinless, withering-persistent. Ovary 2- 

 celled, ripening into a transversely-splitting capsule. 



Leaves not silky-pubescent; introduced. 



Pod 8-18 seeded; leaves ovate or subcordate.... 1. P. major 

 Pod 2 -seeded; leaves lanceolate 2. P. lauceolata 



Leaves silky-pubescent; indigenous 3. P. Purs hi i 



1. P. major L. Common Plantain. Perennial. Leaves all 

 basal; glabrous or nearly so; ovate and usually subcordate. 

 Petioles long, channeled, with conspicuous vascular bundles. 

 Spike dense. Flowers perfect; proterogynous. Stamens 4. 

 Capsule circumscissile near the middle. Along ditches and 

 in moist places. May-September. A common weed. 



2. P. lanceolata L. English Plantain; Rib-grass. Perennial 

 or biennial, usually pubescent with scattered hairs. Leaves 

 basal, 2-12 inches long; narrowly elliptical-lanceolate. Spike 

 dense; at first capitate, then becoming cylindric. Flowers 

 perfect; proterogynous. Stamens 4. Along streams and in 

 fields. April-November. 



3. P. riirshii R. & S. (P. Patagonica gnaphalioides Gray). 

 Annual, densely woolly- or silky-pubescent. Leaves basal; 

 broadly linear; acute or acuminate; entire. Flowers perfect; 

 heterogonous and sometimes cleistogamous. Sepals scarious. 

 Bracts not exceeding the calyx. Stamens 4. Capsule splitting 

 to discharge the seeds at or near its middle. On dry plains. 

 May-August. 



ORDER RUBIALES. 



RUBIACE-ffi. Madder Family. 



Annual or perennial herbs (or some species shrubs 

 or trees). Leaves connected by interposed stipules, or 

 in whorls without apparent stipules. Calyx adnate to 

 the ovary. Corolla regular, of 4-5 united lobes. Sta- 

 mens borne on the corolla, as many as its lobes and 

 alternate with them. Style simple or lobed. Ovary 

 1-10-celled, ripening into a capsule, a drupe or a berry. 



1. GALIUM. Bedstraw; Cleavers. 



Stems slender, 4-angled (with a woody base in some 

 species). Leaves apparently whorled. Inflorescence axillary 

 or terminal; mostly cymose or paniculate. Flowers mostly 

 inconspicuous; perfect or rarely dioecious. Corolla rotate, 4- 

 lobed. Stamens 4, with short filaments and exserted anthers. 

 Styles 2, short; stigmas capitate. Ovary 2-celled, 2-seeded. 

 Fruit dry, usually in pairs; smooth or hooked. 



Annual; leaves in fours, the alternate ones much the 



smaller 1. G. bifolium 



Perennial; leaves in sixes, all about the same size 2. G. trlflorum 



