228 KEY AND FLORA 
1. G. Aparine L. Goosr Grass. Annual; stem weak, decumbent, 
sharply 4-angled and with. backward-pointing prickly hairs, widely 
branched, 2-4 ft. long. Leaves 6-8 in a whorl, oblanceolate, prickly- 
‘hairy on the margins and midrib. Peduncles axillary, longer than 
the leaves, 1-3-flowered; flowers white. Fruiting pedicels erect ; 
fruit dry, covered with hooked bristles. In waste places.* 
2. G. circezans Michx. Witp Licorice. Perennial; stems sev- 
eral, erect, smooth or downy, 12-18 in. high. Leaves 4 in a whorl, 
oval to ovate, obtuse at the apex, strongly 3-nerved, downy. Cymes 
long-peduncled, repeatedly branched. Flowers nearly sessile, greenish- 
purple; pedicels at length recurved. Fruit with hooked bristles. In 
dry, open woods 8. Easily recognized by the sweet, licorice-like taste 
of the leaves.* 
3. G. boreale L. NorrHern Bepstraw. Perennial; stem smooth, 
erect, 1-2 ft. high. Leaves in fours, linear-lanceolate, 3-nerved. 
Flowers bright white, in compact cymes, grouped in a dense panicle. 
Fruit usually with minute bristles. In rocky soil along banks of 
streams, especially N. 
4. G. concinnum T. & G. Suininc Bepstraw. Stems slender, 
smooth, shining, commonly much branched, 6-12 in. high, often 
with the angles minutely roughened. Leaves usually in sixes, linear 
or nearly so, often slightly cuspidate. Flowers small, white, in open 
cymes. Fruit small, smooth. Dry hills and woodlands. 
5. G. asprellum Michx. Rovgu Brpstraw. Perennial; stem 
branching, weak, 3-5 ft. long, often reclining on bushes, with many 
hooked prickles directed backwards. Leaves usually in sixes, or on the 
branches in fours or fives, narrowly oval to lanceolate or oblanceolate, 
cuspidate, with midribs and margins almost prickly. Flowers white, 
in several_many-flowered cymes. Fruit smooth. In rich, moist soil. 
6. G. triflorum Michx. Perennial; stems reclining or prostrate, 
angles rough-bristly. Leaves mostly in sixes, lance-oblong, mucro- 
nate. Flowers usually in threes, on slender peduncles. Woodlands, 
especially N. 
7. G. hispidulum Michx. Brpstraw. Perennial, from yellow 
roots; stems diffusely branched, smooth or slightly roughened, 
downy at the joints, erect or decumbent, 1-2 ft. long. Leaves 4 in 
a whorl, narrowly oval, acute, rough on the margins and mid-vein. 
Peduncles 1-8-flowered; flowers white; pedicels becoming reflexed. 
Fruit a bluish-black, roughened berry. On dry, sandy soil.* 
Il. MITCHELLA L. 
A pretty, trailing, evergreen herb. Leaves roundish-ovate, 
petioled. Flowers fragrant, white or pinkish, dimorphous, 
