MADDER FAMILY 227 



4. P. Purshii R. & S. Annual. White-woolly or silky. Scapes 

 slender ; leaves linear, usually 3-nerved ; spikes dense, cylindrical, and 

 very woolly ; bracts stiff, as long as the flowers or slightly longer. 

 Capsule 2-4-seeded, somewhat longer thaa the calyx. On dry prairies 

 and plains W. and S.W. 



5. P. aristata Michx. Large-Bkacted Plantain. Annual. 

 Leaves broadly linear, entire or sparingly and finely toothed, nar- 

 rowed below into a margined petiole, smooth or silky-downy. Scape 

 longer than the leaves, 6-10 in. high ; spike dense. Br:icts linear, 

 ^-1 in. long. Stamens 4. Capsule 2-seeded, longer than the calyx. 

 Common on dry soil.* 



6. P. heterophylla Nutt. ]\Iany-Seeded Plantain. Annual. 

 Leaves linear, fleshy, entire or with a few spreading teeth, smooth 

 or slightly downy. Scapes slender, 3-6 in. high ; spike very slender, 

 many-flowered, the lower flowers often scattered. Bracts ovate, longer 

 than the sepals. Stamens 2. Capsule twice the length of the calyx, 

 many-seeded. Common in cultivated ground, especially S.* 



95. RUBIACE.S;. Madder Family 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees. Leaves opposite and entire, with 

 stipules between them, or appearing whorled since the stipules 

 resemble the leaves. Flowers epigynous, always bisexual, fre- 

 quently dimorphous (as in Houstonia, Mitchella, and Bou- 

 vardia). Limb of the calyx 3-6-toothed. Corolla regular, 

 inserted on the calyx-tube, as many-lobed as the calyx. Sta- 

 mens equal in number to the divisions of the corolla. Ovary 2 

 or more celled. A very large and important family, of which 

 many of the noteworthy species, for instance the coffee shrub 

 and the cinchona tree, are natives of warm or tropical climates. 



I. GALIUM L. 



Annual or perennial herbs ; stems slender, 4-angled. Leaves 

 appearing whorled. Flowers small, in axillary or terminal 

 cymes or panicles, bisexual or rarely dicecious. Calyx tube 

 short, the teeth minute or wanting. Corolla wheel-shaped, 3- 

 4-lobed. Stamens 3^, short. Ovary 2-celled ; styles 2, short, 

 united below. Fruit 2 united, sometimes fleshy, 1-seeded car- 

 pels, which do not split open.* 



