GALIUM BEDSTRAW CLEAVERS. 167 



to avert. With its use in dysmenorrhea he has had less experience, but, 

 so far as it goes, tending only to confirm him in the opinion that viburnum, 

 as a uterine sedative, has been much overrated. 



RUBIACE/E. 



Character of the Order.— Shrubs or herbs, with opposite leaves con- 

 nected by stipules, or with leaves in whorls without apparent stipules. 

 Calyx adherent to the ovary. Corolla 3- to 5-lobed, inserted, together with 

 the same number of stamens, upon the calyx-tube. Ovary 2- to 4-celled. 

 Fruit various. 



A large order, comprising many important plants, among them the 

 coffee and cinchona trees, but represented in North America by only a few 

 comparatively unimportant genera. 



GALIUM. — Bedstraw. — Cleavers. 



Character of the Genus. — Calyx-teeth obsolete. Corolla commonly 4- 

 parted, rarely 3-parted, wheel-shaped, valvate in the bud. Stamens as many 

 as the lobes of the corolla. Styles 2. Fruit globular, dry or fleshy, sepa- 

 rating at maturity into two indehiscent, seed-like carpels, each containing 

 a single seed. 



Slender herbs, with square stems, whorled leaves, and small axillary 

 or terminal cymose flowers. The roots frequently contain red coloring 

 matter. 



Galium Aparine Linne. — Cleavers, Goose-Grass. 



Description. — Flowers axillary, on 1- to 2-flowered peduncles, white. 

 Fruit large, bristly- with hooked prickles. 



An annual herb, with a weak, reclining stem, bristly with recurved 

 prickles. Leaves in whorls of about 8, lanceolate, tapering at the base, 

 short-pointed, rough on the margins and mid-rib. It flowers from May or 

 June forward. 



Habitat. — Common in shady thickets and margins of woods. The 

 plant is indigenous to Europe, but whether introduced or indigenous here 

 is not known. 



Galium triflorum Michaux. — Sweet-scented Bedstraw. 



Description. — Flowers axillary, on 3-flowered peduncles, greenish. 

 Fruit hispid with hooked bristles. 



An herbaceous perennial. Stem reclining or procumbent, bristly or 

 hispid backward upon the angles. Leaves in whorls of 6, elliptical- 

 lanceolate, bristle-pointed, 1-veined, the margins commonly roughened. 

 It flowers in June and July. 



Habitat. — Moist and rich woodlands throughout the United States and 

 Canada. 



