160 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS 



in sub-alpine woods and clearings, but vernum is smaller and the 

 leaves broader, and it is much less hairy. 



Stony, shady places in sub-alpine woods. April to June. 



Distribution. Pyrenees, Corbieres, Cevennes, Alps, Italian 

 Switzerland, and near Brienz, Corsica, Central and Southern Europe, 

 Siberia. 



Galium rotundifolium L. 



A slender, branched plant, 8-12 inches high. Leaves oval, the 

 inferior often nearly round, delicate, glabrescent, in whorls of 4, 

 feebly 3-nerved. Flowers white, very small, in a trichotomous 

 panicle, loose and spreading, few-flowered, and almost naked. 

 Pedicels divaricate, rather long. Corolla-lobes oval, sub-obtuse. 

 Fruit covered with hooked hairs. 



Mountain woods (especially coniferous) and moors. May to 



July. 



Distribution. Pyrenees, Corbieres, Vosges, Jura, Alps, Cevennes, 

 Corsica. Europe from Scandinavia to the Caucasus, and Asia Minor. 



Galium verum L. Yellow Bedstraw. 



Rootstock woody. Plant glabrous and smooth, except for a slight 

 roughness at edge of leaves. Stems 1-2 feet high, branched, ending 

 in a long panicle of numerous small yellow flowers. [Leaves linear, 

 numerous, in whorls of 6-8. Fruit small, glabrous. 



Dry hillsides and pastures from the plains up to the lower Alps, 

 where it is sometimes very robust. June, July. 



Distribution. Europe, Central and Russian Asia, except in the 

 extreme north. British. 



Galium boreale L. 



Rootstock creeping. Stems firm and erect, 6-18 inches high, 

 not much branched. Leaves 4, in a whorl, lanceolate or linear- 

 lanceolate, with 3 prominent ribs, slightly rough at the edges. 

 Flowers numerous, pure white, in oblong panicles. Corolla-lobes 

 with very short inflected points. Fruit covered with hooked 

 bristles. 



Mountain pastures, meadows, and clearings in woods, especially 

 on limestone soil. A variable species. 



Distribution. Most of Europe to the Arctic regions, Caucasus, 

 Armenia, Northern Asia, and N. America. British. 



Galium rubrum L. 



Rootstock slender, creeping, with stems about a foot high, 

 glabrous, shining, or more or less downy below. Leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, the lower ones usually broadened at the 

 apex, nearly glabrous, ciliate at the borders. Flowers in a loose 

 panicle, very small, red or pink. Lobes of the corolla oval, ending 

 in a recurved point. Fruit becoming black. 



