Galium.} 



TETRANDRIA — MONOGYNIA. 59 



Sfe7n slender, 2 — 4 f. high, anguhir, rough with short reflexed prickles, 

 which are longer and resembling bristles on the peduncles. Leaves 

 ovato-acuniinate, serrated, eared at the base. Heads of flowers rather 

 small, round, hjiry. Scales straight ; blossotns white. Anthers white, 

 much protruded. Fruit 4-sided, with 2 depressed dots, according to 

 Mr Coulter, on each face in the upper part. 



2. Knautia. Lhm. Knautia. 



1. K. arvensis, Coult. {Jield Knautia); lieads of many flowers, 

 outer calyx with very minute teeth, inner with 8 — 16 somewhat 

 awned cilia. Coult. — Scahiosa arveusis, Linn. — E. Bot. t. 659. 



Pastures and corn-fields, frequent. jP/. July. 1^.-2— 3 f. high. Radi- 

 cal leaves lanceolate, slightly serrated, hairy. Heads oi flowers large, 

 convex, lilac-purple ; outer' florets large, with their segments unequal, 

 so that the lower ones form a sort of ray around the head ; inner florets 

 with equal segments. 



3. ScABiosA. Linn. Scabious. 



1. S. succisa, L. (^DeviV s-bit Scabious); corollas 4- cleft their 

 segments nearly equal, cauline leaves dentate, heads of flowers 

 nearly globose. E. Bot, t. 878. 



Meadows and pastures, common. Fl. July — Oct. "U. — Root as it were 

 cut off abruptly, or bitten {radix prosmorsa). Stems nearly simple. 

 Leaves hairy, rather stiff ; radical ones ovate, mostly petiolate, those of 

 the stem oblong. Flowers purplish-blue. 



2. S. columbaria, h. (small Scabious); corollas 5-cleft radia- 

 ting, stem hairy, radical leaves oblong-ovate crenate or lyrate, 

 those of the stem pinnatifid with linear segments. E. Bot. t. 1311. 



Pastures and waste places, most abundant in chalk countries : rare in 

 Scotland; near Arbroath, with white fl.; plentiful near Montrose, and 

 at Blackford. FL July, Aug. "4. — Scarcely a foot high, hairy. Lower 

 leaves on rather long footstalks ; cauline ones cut into narrow, linear or 

 setaceous pinnae. Flowers purplish-blue. J/juo/«cre of narrow leaves, 

 longer than the flowers. Inner cal. w ith 5 bristles. 



4. Galium. Linn. Bed-straw. 



* Fruit glabrous. Flowers yellow. 



1. G. verum, L. (i/ellow Bed- straw) ; leaves about 8 in a whorl 

 linear grooved above, flowers in dense panicles. E. Bot. t. 660. 

 E. Fl. V. i. p. 208. 



Dry banks, sandy places and sea-shores, common. Fl. July, Aug. 1/. 

 . — Readily distinguished by its yeWowfloivers, and linear, deflexed leaves. 

 According to Lightfoot the Highlanders employ the roots, i and princi- 

 pally the bark of them, to dye red ; boiling them with the yarn and add- 

 ing alum to fix the colour. They also use the plant as a Rennet to 

 curdle milk, combined with the leaves of the stinging Nettle ( Urtica 

 dioica) and a little salt. 



2. G. crucidtum, L. ( Cross-icort Bed-straw, Mug-uort); leaves 



1 Curtis says these roots yield a better red than Madder. The plant should 

 be cultivated, and perhaps others of this natural groupe, all allied to the true 

 madder, and the dyeing qualities of their roots correctly ascertained. 



