RUBIACE^E. (MADDER FAMILY.) 209 



■i- Flowers very abundant, the small clusters or cymes panicled on the branches. 



2. G. Molltjgo, L. Steins (l°-3° long) very smooth; leaves mostly in 

 whorls of 8, oblanceolate or oblong-linear, barely rough on the margins, slen- 

 der-pointed ; flowers forming a long panicle. — Washington Heights, near New 

 York, W. W. Denslow. (Adv. from Eu.) 



3. G. asprellum, Michx. (Rough Bedstraw.) Stem weak, much 

 branched, rough backwards with ftoohd prickles, leaning on bushes (3° -5° high) ; 

 leaves in whorls of 6, or 4-5 on the branchlets, oval-lanceolate, pointed, with almost 

 prickly margins and midrib; peduncles short, 2-3 times forked. — Low thick- 

 ets : common northward. 



4. G. concinnum, Torr. & Gr. Stems low and slender (6'- 12' high), 

 with minutely roughened angles; leaves all in whorls of 6, linear, slightly pointed, 

 veinless, the margins upwardly roughened; peduncles slender, 2-3 times forked, 

 diffusely panicled at the summit ; pedicels short, — Dry ground, Pennsylvania 

 from the Suscpiehanna, to Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, and Kentucky. — Leaves 

 not blackening in drying. 



■*- ■*- Flowers few, lateral or terminating the branches, not panicled. 



5. G. trifidum, L. (Small Bedstraw.) Stems weak, ascending (5'- 

 20' high), branching, mostly roughened backwards on the angles; leaves in 

 whorls of 4 to 6, linear or oblanceolate, obtuse, the margins and midrib rough ; 

 corolla-lobes and stamens often only 3. — Var. 1. pusillum : stems rather 

 simple, 5' -8' high, nearly smooth; leaves only 3" -4" long, all in fours, soon 

 reflexed; peduncles 1 - 3-flowered. (In deep sphagnous swamps, northward.) 

 Var. 2. tinctorium : stem taller and stouter, and with nearly smooth angles ; 

 peduncles 3 - 7-flowered, the corolla-lobes and stamens 4. Var. 3. latif6lium 

 (G. obtusum, Bigel.) : stem smooth and widely branched ; leaves oblong or ellip- 

 tical, quite rough on the midrib and margins. — Swamps : common, and very 

 variable. (Eu.) 



* * * Perennial, procumbent : leaves 6 or rarely 5 in a whorl, with prominent midrib 



and no lateral nerves : flowers greenish : fruit bur-like, beset with hooked bristles. 



6. G. triflorum, Michx. (Sweet-scented Bedstraw.) Stem (l°- 

 3° long) bristly-roughened backwards on the angles ; leaves elliptical-lanceolate, 

 bristle-pointed, with slightly roughened margins (V -2' long) ; peduncles 3-flow- 

 ered, the flowers all pedicelled. — Rich woodlands : common. — Sweet-scented 

 in drying. (Eu.) 



* * * * Perennial, ascending or upright : leaves all in fours, more or less 3-nerved. 



peduncles loosely or remotely 3 - several-flowered : corolla dull-purple, brownish, or 

 rarely cream-color ; the lobes pointed or bristle-tipped : fruit, except in No. 10, 

 bur-like, beset with hooked bristles. 



7. G. pildsum, Ait. Hairy ; leaves oval, dotted, hairy (1' long), scarcely 3- 

 nerved ; peduncles twice or thrice 2 - 3 forked, the flowers all pedicel/eel. — Dry copses, 

 Rhode Island and Vermont to Illinois and southward. — Var. puxcticul6sum 

 is a nearly smooth form (G. puncticulosum, Michx.) : Virginia and southward. 



8. G. circsezans, Michx. (Wild Liquorice.) Smooth or downy (1° 

 high) ; leaven oval, varying to ovate-oblong, mostly obtuse, 3-nerved, ciliate (1'- 1^' 

 long) ; peduncles usually once forked, the branches elongated and widely diverging in 



L &M— 29 



