228 KEY AND FLORA 
1. G. Aparine I. Goose 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. Peduneles 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, greeuish- 
purple; pedicels at leneth 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. NortHern Bepstraw. Perennial; stem smooth, 
erect, 1-2 ft. high. Leaves in fours, lnear-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. Saintrnc 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. Roven Brpsrraw. 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-Howered 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. Bepstrraw. Perennial, from yellow 
roots; stems diffusely branched, smooth or slightly roughened, 
downy at the jaints, erect or decumbent, 1-2 ft. long. Leaves 4 in 
a whorl, narrowly oval, acute, rough on the margins and mid-vein. 
Peduncles 1-3-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, 
