172 rubiacejE. (madder family.) 



nesth ; cymes rather short-peduncled, 5-rayed ; fruit ovoid, blue. — Swamps, 

 common. April and May. — Shrub 8° - 12° high. 



6. V. dentatum, L. Veins of the leaves beneath with tufted hairs in 

 their axils, otherwise smooth ; leaves round-ovate, slightly cordate, coarsely ser- 

 rate, acute, plicate by the strong impressed veins ; cymes long-peduncled, 7- 

 rayed ; calyx smooth, with the lobes obtuse ; fruit small, roundish, deep blue. — 

 Eich damp soil, West Florida to Mississippi, and northward. March - May. — 

 A large shrub. 



". v. scabrellum, Torr. & Gray. Hairy throughout, and the leaves be- 

 neath stellate-tomentose ; leaves ovate or roundish, often cordate, or rarely cune- 

 ate at tlic base, rather obtusely and coarsely serrate, short-petioled ; calyx-lobes 

 hairy, acute; corolla hairy ; cymes 7-rayed ; frait roundish, deep blue. — Swamps 

 or rocky hills, Florida to South Carolina, in the lower districts, and westward. 

 May and June. — Shrub 8° - 1 2° high. Leaves thick, 1 ' - 2' long, or sometimes 

 twice that size. 



8. V. pubesoens, Pursh. Leaves small, ovate or oblong-ovate, coarsely 

 serrate, hairy above, tomentose beneath, on very short petioles or the uppermost 

 subsessile ; cymes small, smoothish, 7-rayed ; fruit oblong, black. — Mountains 

 of North Carolina. June. — A shrub 2°-3° high. Leavps I'-2' long. 



* * Marginal flowers radiant and sterile. 



9. V. lautanoides, Michx. Stem smooth and straggling ; branches, 

 cymes, and lower surface of the round-ovate, cordate, serrate leaves covered 

 with tufted down ; cymes sessile ; fruit ovoid, black. — Deep shades on the 

 mountains of North Carolina. June. — Stem 2° - 4° long. Leaves 4' - 6' long. 

 Sterile flowers 1 ' in diameter. 



Order 70. RUBIACE^. (Madder Family.) 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees. Leaves entire, opposite and united by inter- 

 posed stipules, or whorled. — Calyx-tube adherent to the ovary, or (in 

 Loganieae) free ; the limb 4 - 6-toothed or lobed, or obsolete. Corolla 

 4 -6-lobed, inserted on the throat of the calyx. Stamens 4-6, inserted 

 on the tube of the corolla, and alternate with its lobes. Ovary 2-10- 

 celled, with 1 - several anatropous or amphitropous ovules in each cell. 

 Style mostly solitary. Albumen hard or fleshy. 



Synopsis. 



Suborder L COFFEEJE. Ovules and seed solitary in the cells 

 (except No. 7). Calyx-tube adherent to the ovary. 



5 1. Leaves ■whorled. Stipules none. 



1. GALIUM. Corolla rotate, valvate in the bud. Fruit 2-celled. Herbs. 



$ 2. Leaves opposite, rarely three in a whorl, with stipules interposed. 

 * Herbs. Mature fruit dry. Dowers axillary, single or clustered. 



2. SPERMACOCE. Carpels 2, one of them closed by the partition, the other open. Flowers 



clustered. 



