284 RUBIACE.E. Galium. 



Marshes near Peregoy's, Mariposa Co., at 7,000 feet {A. Gray) ; Siena Valley (Lcmmon) ; dis- 

 covered by Mr. Watson in the mountains of Nevada. Fruit proportionally large, a line or a line 

 and a half in diameter. 



4. G. Aparine, Linn. Stem weak and spreading : leaves mostly in eights, 

 linear-oblanceolate ; the margins, midrib, and angles of the branches armed with 

 spreading or retrorse spinulose bristles : peduncles elongated, 1 - 2-flowered : corolla 

 greenish-white : fruit rather large. 



Moist grounds, apparently throughout the State, and without doubt a native plant ; but only 

 in the smaller form (var. minor, Hook.) : the leaves barely an inch or thereabouts in length, 

 whereas in the ordinary eastern and European plants they are of twice that length, and the fruit 

 larger. 



* * Annual (?) with perfect flowers : fruit granulate-scabrous. 



5. Gr. asperrimum, Gray. Diffusely much branched, weak : the branches 

 slender, minutely and retrorsely spinulose : leaves in sixes, lanceolate or the lower 

 oblanceolate verging to oblong, tipped with a slender cuspidate point, smooth and 

 shining both sides, the margins and midrib beneath thickly and retrorsely spinu- 

 lose-ciliate : flowers numerous, in naked cymes terminating the branchlets : pedun- 

 cles and pedicels filiform : lobes of the apparently greenish-white corolla ovate and 

 acute : immature fruit muricate-granulate. — PL Fendl. 60, & PL Wright, ii. 67. 

 (New Mexico and Arizona.) 



Var. asperulum : leaves thinner, duller, all more lanceolate, their margins and 

 midrib much less strongly ciliate, the bristles sometimes obscure and not retrorse : 

 peduncles and pedicels fewer and not divaricate : corolla apparently purplish : fruit 

 not seen. — G. asperrimum, Watson, Bot. King. 134. 



In Mariposa Sequoia Grove (Bolander), Sierra Valley (Lemmon), and Ruby Valley, Nevada ' 

 ( Watson). If a variety of G. asperrimum, it must be a form growing in more shady places. 

 Leaves \ to f of an inch long, those near the flowers smaller, almost awn-pointed. Corolla a line 

 and a half in diameter. Perhaps the root is perennial. 



* * * Perennials. 



+- With diffuse or decumbent wholly herbaceous stems : fruit not long-villous : leaves 

 with more or less prominent midrib, but no lateral nerves. 



6. G. triflorum, Michx. Slightly and sparsely hairy or nearly glabrous, bright 

 green : stems procumbent or reclining, minutely spinulose backwards on the angles 

 (or rarely smooth) : leaves in sixes or sometimes in fives, thin, oblong-lanceolate, 

 acute at both ends, or cuspidate-acuminate, the margins and often the midrib 

 beneath beset with very short commonly retrorse and hooked bristles : peduncles once 

 or twice 3-forked ; the pedicels divergent : corolla greenish : fruit hirsute with 

 slender hooked bristles, or when mature merely roughened. 



Rather common in woods and thickets, from San Francisco northward and to the Sierra, ex- 

 tending through the northern parts of the continent. The foliage when drying exhales the 

 sweet scent of the European Asperula odorata. Leaves one or two inches or less in length, 3 or 4 

 lines wide. 



7. G. trifidum, Linn. Glabrous or nearly so : stems slender, ascending or 

 erect, diffusely branched, mostly roughened on the angles : leaves 4 - 6 in the 

 whorl, commonly 5 or 6 on the stem and 4 on the branches, varying from linear to 

 oblanceolate, obtuse, the midrib and margins more or less scabrous : peduncles soli- 

 tary or in threes, not longer than the leaves : flowers very small : lobes of the white 

 corolla and the stamens often only 3 : fruit smooth and naked. 



"Wet and shady places, same range as the preceding. Stems 5 to 15 inches high. Leaves 3 to 9 

 lines long. Corolla barely a line broad. 



8. G. Bolanderi, Gray. Apparently erect, diffusely and paniculately branched, 

 minutely hirsute or nearly glabrous : leaves all in fours, thickish, oblong-lin- 

 ear, short, the margins and midrib beneath minutely hispid-ciliate : cymes sev- 

 eral-flowered, paniculate : pedicels about the length of the flowers : corolla dull 



