RUBIACE^ i6-i 



Dry, stony places in the southern hills and mountains. July, 

 August. 



Distribution. — ^Alps of Dauphiny, Savoie, and all Provence, 

 Southern France, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Tyrol, Balearic Isles. 



Galium purfureiim L. 



Rootstock almost woody, with erect stems, 8-18 inches high, 

 much branched, finely pubescent, with short intemodes. Leaves in 

 whorls of 8-10, linear, green, with one dorsal vein, finely ciliate. 

 Flowers very small, dark, blood-red. Lobes of coroUa oval-acum- 

 inate. Fruit glabrous, rugose, becoming black. 



Stony hills and dry places in the southern mountains. June to 

 August. 



Distribution. — S.E. France from the Var to Basses-Alpes, 

 Maritime Alps, Southern Tessin (not elsewhere in Switzerland), 

 Southern Europe, eastward to Turkey. 



ASPERULA L. 

 Differs little from Galium except in the shape of the corolla, 

 which is funnel- or bell-shaped, with a long tube, often several times 

 as long as the lobes. 



Asperula odorata L. Woodruff. 



A small fragrant plant, 6-10 inches high, with creeping rootstock. 

 Leaves 6-8, in a whorl, lanceolate, acuminate, rough at the edges. 

 Flowers small, white, in a loose tricotomous cyme. Fruit hispid, 

 globular. 



Woods and shady places in the plains and mountains. May. 



Distribution. — Europe and Siberia, except the extreme north. 

 British. 



Asperula taurina L. 



A rather taller plant, with erect, simple stem, branched at the 

 top. Leaves 4, in a whorl, broadly lanceolate, acuminate, 3-nerved, 

 with sUky hairs. Flowers white, crowded, subtended by ciliate 

 bracts. Fruit glabrous. 



Mountain woods. May, June. 



Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, including Switzer- 

 land, Jura, Dauphiny, etc.. Western Asia as far as Persia. 



Asperula cynanchica L. Squinancy-wort. 



Barren stems, more or less prostrate, the others ascending abouti 

 6 inches. Leaves narrow-linear, the lower ones 4 in a whorl, the 

 upper ones often in pairs. Flowers pinkish white, or occasionally 

 white, small, funnel-shaped. Fruit small, tubercular or granulated. 

 A most variable plant, with several Alpine varieties, one of which is 



