214 THE STELLATE TRIBE. [Galium. 



and barely extending to some of the southern counties of England. FL 

 summer. [In former editions of this work, and by many botanists still, 

 this has been regarded as a smooth fruited form of the continental G. 

 parisiense, Linn., in which the fruit is covered with bristles.] 



8. Gr. boreale, Linn. (fig. 478). Northern G. — Rootstock creeping ; 

 the stems more firm and erect, and less branched than in the other 

 species, from J to 1 \ feet high, glabrous or slightly hoary. Leaves 4 in 

 a whorl, lanceolate or linear, rather firm, with 3 longitudinal ribs, 

 smooth or scarcely rough at the edges, and often an inch long. Flowers 

 numerous, in oblong terminal panicles, white, and rather larger than 

 in G. Mollugo, with very short, inflected points to the lobes. Fruit 

 covered with hooked hairs or bristles. 



On moist rocks, and in mountain pastures, all over northern Europe, 

 Asia to the Arctic regions, and America ; confined to mountains in 

 southern Europe and central Asia. Frequent in Scotland, northern 

 England, North Wales, and Ireland. FL summer. 



9. G. Aparine, Linn. (fig. 479). Cleavers, Goose-grass. — Although an 

 annual, this plant often extends to several feet, scrambling over bushes, 

 to which it clings by the recurved asperities or small prickles on the 

 angles of the stem and on the edges and midribs of the leaves. Leaves 

 6 or 8 in a whorl, linear or linear-lanceolate, often above an inch long. 

 Peduncles opposite and axillary, rather longer than the leaves, bearing 

 a loose cyme of from 3 to 8 or 10 small, greenish-white flowers, with 

 3 or 4 leaves at the base of the cyme. Pedicels 2 to 4 lines long, 

 straight and slender, or but slightly recurved and thickened. Fruits 

 usually covered with hooked bristles, forming small, very adhesive 

 burrs, but sometimes almost or entirely without them. 



In hedges and thickets, throughout Europe and northern Asia, from 

 the Arctic Circle almost to the tropics, and now spread over North 

 America. Abundant in Britain. FL the whole summer, and often in 

 autumn. Slender or short varieties, less hispid, and with smaller fruits, 

 have been distinguished under the names of G. Vaillantii, DC, and G. 

 spurium, Linn., but the latter name is also given to luxuriant forms of 

 G. tricorne. 



10. Gr. tricorne, With. (fig. 480). Corn G. — Very near G. Aparine, 

 but a smaller plant, seldom above a foot long, the leaves shorter, the 

 peduncles shorter than the leaves, with only 1, 2, or 3 flowers, the 

 pedicels of which are rolled back and thickened after flowering, and 

 the fruit is granulated only, without hooks or bristles. 



A much more southern plant than G. Aparine, very common in waste 

 and cultivated places in the Mediterranean region, and eastward to 

 central Asia ; becomes a cornfield weed in central Europe, and as such 

 extends over most counties of England, but does not extend to Scotland 

 or Ireland. FL with the corn, or sometimes later, in the stubble. 



III. ASPERULA. ASPERULE. 



Differs from Galium only in the shape of the corolla, which tapers 

 at the base into a tube at least as long as the lobes, and often several 

 times longer. 



The species are less numerous than those of Galium, and the geogra- 



