HARPER'S GUIDE TO WILD FLOWERS 



those on the stem, lower down, opposite, cut, or deeply toothed, 

 ovate, or lance-shaped. 



A very small plant of local growth, with at least its musi- 

 cal name to recommend it. Flowers in short spikes. Along 

 the coast of Maine, among the White Mountains in stony, 

 sterile ground. 



Cleavers. Goose Grass 



Galium Aparine. — Family, Madder. Color, white. Calyx, 

 tubular, without teeth. Corolla, 4 - lobed, wheel - shaped. Sta- 

 mens, 4. Styles, 2. Leaves, commonly 6 or 8 in a whorl, linear 

 or inversely lance-shaped, quite long, very rough and bristly on 

 the edges and midrib. Flowers, 1 to 3, in cymes, in the upper 

 axils of the leaves. Stems, rough, weak, climbing by means of 

 hooked bristles over other plants, 2 to 5 feet long, hairy at the 

 joints. Along the coast, in rich soil or shady grounds, from 

 Maine to Florida. May to September. 



The galiums are interesting little plants, in that, although 

 weak, they are aggressive and flourish better than some 

 others by nature more independent and erect. 



Northern Bedstraw 



G. boreMe. — Flowers, in panicles, the stem growing erect, 1 to 

 3 feet high. Leaves, in whorls of fours, linear, 3 -nerved, smooth 

 along the margins. May to August. 



Rocky woods or moist banks and shores. 



Marsh Bedstraw 



G. palustre. — Flowers, small, in terminal and lateral cymes, on 

 spreading pedicels. Leaves, in pairs or fours, linear, with con- 

 siderable distance between the joints. Stem, smooth, erect, a 

 foot or more high. Corolla, for this genus, large, white. June and 

 July. 



In low, wet meadows along roadsides where it is springy, 

 from Connecticut northward and westward. 



Sweet-scented Bedstraw 



G. triflbrum. — Color, greenish or greenish white (see p. 36). 



Small Bedstraw 



G. trifidam. — 'Corona-lobes and^ stamens, 3 or more. Styles 2. 

 Flowers, solitary or, when they terminate the branches, in threes. 

 Variable. July to September. 



The fruit, as in all the galiums, is a pair of dry seed- 

 vessels, joined at first, separating when ripe into distinct 



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