Cleavers. 



109 



observe, first, that the stem is qu.idranj^ular, not round ; 

 secondly, that tlie leaves arc lancc-shaped, not oval ; 

 and tliirdl)-, that both stem and leaves arc edj^cd with 

 little sharp curved prickles, t nting backward the 

 opposite way to the jjencral growth of the plant. 

 Let us try to find out what is the origin and meaning 

 of these three marked peculiarities. 



To do so rightl' we must begin by considering 

 the near relations of the goose-grass. In a systematic 

 botanical classification our 

 plant is ranked as one of 

 the stellate tribe, a subdi- 

 vision of the great family of 

 the Rubiaceac, or madder 

 kind. Now, the stellates arc 

 so called because of their 

 little star-shaped flowers, and 

 they are all characterised by 

 two of these goose-grass 



peculiarities — namely, the square stems and the 

 whorled leaves — while the third point, the possession 

 of recurved prickles on the angles of the stalk and 

 the edges of the leaves, is a special personal habit of 

 the goose-grass species itself, with one or two more of 

 its near relations. It will be best for us, therefore, to 

 ask first what is the origin and meaning of the charac- 



FiG. 24. — Stem of Cleavers. 



