BTELLATJE. 275 



smooth, or with OTily a slight asperity on the edges of the leaves. Stems 

 much branched at the base, decumbent or ascending, 6 inches to above a 

 foot long, ending in an oblong panicle of very numerous, small, yellow 

 flowers. Leaves small, linear, numerous, in whorls of 6 or 8. Fruits small, 

 and smooth. 



On banks and pastm-es, throughout Europe and central and Russian Asia, 

 except the extreme north. Abundant in Britain. Fl. the lohole summer. 



3. Marsh Galium. Galium palustre, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1857.) 



A weak and slender, glabrous perennial, more generally blackening in 

 drying than any of the tbUowiiig. Stems a ibot or more long, with few 

 spreading branches, almost always rougli on the angles. Leaves mostly 4 m 

 a whorl, occasionally 5, very rarely 6, linear or oblong, obtuse, without the 

 small point of the tlu'ee following species ; mostly, but not always, rough 

 on the edges. Flowers small, and white, not very numerous, in sjareadiug 

 panicles ; the lobes of the corolla without the fine point of the hedge O. 

 Fruit rather small, shghtly granulated. 



In marshes and wet places, often quite m the water, but sometimes also 

 in drier situations, and even hanging from the clefts of rocks, extending all 

 over Europe and Russian Asia, from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Cu-cle. 

 Common in Britain. Fl. summer. 



4. Stramp Galium. Galium uliginosum, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1973, and G. WUheringii, Eng. Bot. t. 2206.) 



Differs from the marsh G. in its leaves, either G or 8 in a whorl, usually 

 narrower, terminated by a fine point, and less disposed to turn black in 

 di-ying ; from the slender varieties of the heath G., in its stem rough on the 

 angles. 



Dispersed over Europe and Russian Asia, and occurs in various parts 

 of Britain, but not a very common plant, for although indicated in almost 

 all Floras within the geographical range of the marsh G. and the heath G., 

 it is probable that varieties of the one or the other are often mistaken 

 for it. It may indeed prove that the stvamp G. is but a rough-stemmed 

 variety of the heath G. Fl. summer. 



5. Heatli Galium. Galiuta saxatile, Linn. 



(Eng. Bot. t.815, and G.pusillum, Eng. Bot. t. 74.) 

 A small perennial, much branched, leafy, and often tufted at the 

 base ; the flowering stems uiunerous, weak, 5 or 6 inches high, rarely attain- 

 ing nearly a foot, and smooth, or nearly so, on the angles. Leaves usually 

 6 in a whorl, sometimes 7 or 8, and occasionally on the barren shoots 

 only 4 or 5 ; the lower ones small and obovate, the upper narrow, and, 

 when the stem lengthens much, mostly linear ; all have a little point at the 

 tip, the edges are smooth or rough, the length seldom exceeds 3 lines. 

 Flowers numerous, and white, in short terminal panicles, the lobes of the 

 corolla scarcely pomted. Fruits small, more or less granulated. 



In open heaths, and pastures, very common in western and central Europe, 

 but seldom mentioned in the more eastern Floras. In Britain, one of the 

 most universally distributed species. Fl. summer. Varieties vtith narrower 

 leaves, more often 8 in a whorl, have been distinguished as species, under 

 the names of G. pusillwm,-sylvestre, montanum, commutatum, etc. 



