i6o SUB-ALPINE PLANTS 



in sub-alpine woods and clearings, but vernum is smaller and the 

 leaves broader, and it is much less hairy. 



Stony, shady places in sub-alpine woods. April to June. 



Distribution. — Pyrenees, CorbiSres, Cevennes, Alps, Italian 

 Switzerland, and near Brienz, Corsica, Central and Southern Europe, 

 Siberia. 



Galium rotundifolium L. 



A slender, branched plant, 8-12 inches high. Leaves oval, the 

 inferior often nearly round, delicate, glabrescent, in whorls of 4, 

 feebly 3-nerved. Flowers white, very small, in a trichotomous 

 panicle, loose and spreading, few-flowered, and almost naked. 

 Pedicels divaricate, rather long. Corolla-lobes oval, sub-obtuse. 

 Fruit covered with hooked hairs. 



Mountain woods (especially coniferous) and moors. May to 



July. 



Distribution. — Pyrenees, CorbiSres, Vosges, Jura, Alps, Cevennes, 

 Corsica. Europe from Scandinavia to the Caucasus, and Asia Minor. 



Galium verum L. Yellow Bedstraw. 



Rootstock woody. Plant glabrous and smooth, except for a slight 

 roughness at edge of leaves. Stems 1-2 feet high, branched, ending 

 in a long panicle of numerous small yellow flowers. Leaves linear, 

 numerous, in whorls of 6-8. Fruit small, glabrous. 



Dry hillsides and pastures from the plains up to the lower Alps, 

 where it is sometimes very robust. June, July. 



Distribution. — Europe, Central and Russian Asia, except in the 

 extreme north. British. 



Galium boreale L. 



Rootstock creeping. Stems firm and erect, 6-18 inches high, 

 not much branched. Leaves 4, in a whorl, lanceolate or linear- 

 lanceolate, with 3 prominent ribs, slightly rough at the edges. 

 Flowers numerous, pure white, in oblong panicles. Corolla-lobes 

 with very short inflected points. Fruit covered with hooked 

 bristles. 



Mountain pastures, meadows, and clearings in woods, especially 

 on limestone soil. A variable species. 



Distribution. -^'Most of Europe to the Arctic regions, Caucasus, 

 Armenia, Northern Asia, and N. America. British. 



Galium rubrum L. 



Rootstock slender, creeping, with stems about a foot high, 

 glabrous, shining, or more or less downy below. Leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, the lower ones usually broadened at the 

 apex, nearly glabrous, ciliate at the borders. Flowers in a loose 

 panicle, very small, red or pink. Lobes of the corolla oval, ending 

 in a recurved point. Fruit becoming black. 



