MADDER FAMILY 227 



4. P. Purshii R. & S. Annual. White-woolly or silky. Scapes 

 slender; leaves linear, usually 3-nerved ; spikes dense, cylindrical, and 

 very woolly ; bracts stiif, as long as the flowers or slightly longer. 

 Capsule 2-4-seeded, somewhat longer than the calyx. On dry prairies 

 and plains A^^ and 8.W. 



5. P. aristata Michx. Large-Bracted Plantain, Annual. 

 Leaves broadly linear, entire or sparingly and finely toothed, nar- 

 rowed below into a margined petiole, smooth or silky-downy. Scape 

 longer than the leaves, 6-10 in. high ; spike dense. Bracts linear, 

 1-1 in. long. Stamens 4. Capsule 2-seeded, longer than the calyx. 

 Common on dry soil.* 



6. P. heterophylla Xutt. Many-Seeded Plantain. Annual. 

 Leaves linear, fleshy, entire or with a few spreading teeth, smooth 

 or slightly downy. Scapes slender, 3-6 in. high ; spike very slender, 

 many-flowered, the lower flowers often scattered. Bracts ovate, longer 

 than the sepals. Stamens 2. Capsule twice the length of the calyx, 

 manj'-seeded. Common in cultivated ground, especially S.* 



95. RUBIACE^. Madder Family 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees. Leaves opposite and entire, with 

 stipules between them, or appearing; whorled since the stipules 

 resemble the leaves. Flowers epigynous, always bisexual, fre- 

 quently dimorphous (as in Houstonia, Ilitchella, and Bou- 

 vardia). Limb of the calyx 3-6-toothed, Corolla regular, 

 inserted on the calyx-tube, as many-lobed as the calyx. Sta- 

 mens equal in number to the divisions of the corolla. Ovary 2 

 or more celled. A very large and important family, of which 

 many of the noteworthy species, for instance the coffee shrub 

 and the cinchona tree, are natives of warm or tropical climates. 



L GALIUM L. 



Annual or perennial herbs ; stems slender, 4-angled. Leaves 

 appearing whorled. Flowers small, in axillary or terminal 

 cymes or panicles, bisexual or rarely di(vcious. Calyx tube 

 short, the teeth minute or wanting. Corolla wheel-shaped, 3- 

 4-lobed. Stamens .S-4, short. Ovary 2-celled ; styles 2, short, 

 united below. Fruit 2 united, sometimes fleshy, 1-seeded car- 

 pels, which do not split open.* 



