186 G A L 
S. Galium iiliguiofum, or marfli ladies bedflravv : 
leaves in fixe?, lanceolate, i'erratc-prickly backward, mn- 
cronafe fliff: corollas larger than the fruit. Root peren¬ 
nial, creeping, ilender ; flenis from procumbent eredt, of¬ 
ten ptitting out roots at the bafe, from a finger’s length to 
a foot or eighteen inches, the corners rough, with very 
minute prickles; two or more branches fpringing from each 
joint; leaves fix, fometimes feven or eight, or even nine, 
in a whorl ; five lines long, and one broad, lanceola,te, not 
much bent back at the edge, which is fet with very mi¬ 
nute prickles ; in other parts they are fmooth, of a bright 
green above, but glaucous underneath ; flowers in pani¬ 
cles at the ends of the fiem and branches, in trifid divi- 
lions, the peduncles very fhort; at tlie bafe of thele a 
pair of leaflets or braftes ; corolla wliite, larger than the 
fruit; Haller fays it has a tinge of rofe colour ; antherae 
very fmall, purplifh ; fruits rough, according to Tour- 
nefort. Native of Sweden, France, Germany, Swifl'er- 
land. Great Britain ; on wet lieaths, in bogs, low mea¬ 
dows, by river fides, and other watery places; it flowers 
in July and Auguft. 
9. Galium fpurium, or corn ladies bedflraw : leaves in 
fixes, lanceolate keeled, fcabrous, prickly backwards; 
joints finiple. Stem quadrangular, profirate, hardly 
branched, prickly downwards at the corners ; leaves ufu- 
ally in fixes, ovate-lanceolate, prickly backwards, keel¬ 
ed ; peduncles axillary and terminating, bowed in, three- 
flowered, all the flowers hermaphrodite: feeds globular, 
fnioothifli. It is very common in the corn in Cambridge- 
fliire, efpecially where the foil is calcareous, as about 
Gogrnagog hills, Linton, &c. alfo in various parts of Ox- 
fordfliire. According to Hudfon, in the ifle of Thanet; 
about Leathcrhead ;md elfewhere in Surrey; and near 
Stamford. In the Ifle of Wight, as Dr. Withering Ltys; 
it is an annual plant, and flowers in June and July, and 
even later in the ftubble after the corn is off. 
10. Galium tricorne, or three-horned ladies bedflravv: 
leaves from fix to eight ; peduncles lateral, almofl nak¬ 
ed, trifid, pedicels bowed back ; fruit tubercled. Leaves 
from (ix to eight, the upper furface fmooth, the rib un¬ 
derneath rough. 
11. Galium Anglicum, or Englifli ladies bedflraw: 
leaves about fix, lanceolate, acuminate, reflex, ciliate 
prickly ; ftems fpreading, rough with prickles, pointing 
backwards; corollas fmallerthan the fruit. Root annual, 
branched ; ftems from a foot to eighteen inches in height, 
the cornets rough with prickles pointing backwards, 
jointed, branched, branches alternate, flowering branches 
oppofite, , Found by Sherard on a wall at Hackney, and 
at Eltham; by Hudfon, in fandy ground between Dart- 
ford and Northfleet, and on a wall at Farningham in 
Rent; by Mr. Crowe, on the walls of Binham church in 
Norfolk. 
12. Galium faxatile, or rock ladies bedflraw: leaves 
in fixes,obovate, obtufe; flem very much branched, pro¬ 
cumbent. Scarcely a hand high ; root large, producing 
a prodigious number of Items, which are angular ; leaves 
in great abundance, without any prickle at the end : 
feeds very large, wrinkled. This is Haller’s defeription, 
who doubts very much whether his plant be the fame 
with that of Linnreus ; Krocker fays that it has a fmall, 
Ilender, creeping, root ; a fmooth flem, a hand or a foot in 
lieight; five or fix leaves, oblanceolate or obovate, fmooth, 
ending in a (lender tip ; the flowers axillary, the pedun¬ 
cles fuflaining one to four flowers in a corymb, tlie co¬ 
rymbs four to fix-flowered, fltort; corollas white : feeds 
large ; it is an annual. Native of Spain and Swilferland, 
on mountain rocks. 
13. Galium Pyrenaicum, or Pyrenean ladies bedflraw : 
leaves in fixes, flowers lateral, oppofite, fubfeflile, folita- 
ry. Stems weak, of a finger’s length, and branched ; the 
internodes fcarcely the length of the leaves, which are 
fmooth, fomewhat convex, and mucronate. Native of 
the Pyrenees. 
I U M. 
14. Galium mlnutum, or fmall ladies bedflravv : leaves 
in eights, lanceolate, mucronate, ferrate-prickly, fmooth, 
incurved, fruits reflex. This very much refembles G. 
verum, but it is lefs than a hand in height, and is decum¬ 
bent ; ftem quite fmooth, not fcabrous even about the 
edge ; leaves a little convex, not bent back on the edge ; 
fruit flefhy, large, with the peduncles reflex, whence 
th.ey are conglomerate ; perennial. Native of Rullia. 
15. Galium pufillum, or dwarf ladies bedflraw : leaves 
in eights, hifpid, linear, acuminate ; fruit fmooth ; pedun¬ 
cles diciiotoinous. Root branched, jierennial ; ftems nu¬ 
merous, from three to ten inches high, branched, the cor¬ 
ners commonly rough with prickles; they form large 
tufts, covered with innumerable milk-white flowers, very 
confpicuous at a diftance. Not only the corners of the flem, 
but the edges and midribs of the leaves, are rough, with 
ftiort fpreading hairs; leaves rarely up to eight; in the 
Englifli Botany it is faid from fix to eight, or even nine, in 
a whorl, equally fpreading. Native of Provence ; on the 
limeflone hills near Kendal in Weftmoreland ; Matlock- 
bath, Derbyfliire ; flowers in July and Aiiguft. 
16. Galium verum, yellow ladies bedflraw, orcheefe- 
rening: leaves in eights, linear grooved; flowering 
branches (liort. Root perennial, creeping, (lender, fome¬ 
what w'oody, of a yellow colour ; ftem from one to two 
feet liigh ; leaves about an incli in length, bluntiflv with 
a (light point, narrowed at the bafe, the edges rolled 
back, and rougii with minute prickles turned upwards, 
vifible only with a magnifier, above (lightly wrinkled, 
dark green and glolTy, underneath hollowed and paler; 
the lovver.moft ufually eight in a whorl, but not unfre- 
quently ten, the upper ones decreafing to feven, and fo 
down to two, and even one at the extremities of the 
branches; flowers in a panicle, numerous, fmall, fragrant 
with a peculiar odour. It is common in mofl parts of 
Europe, in paftures, and by the fides of fields and roads, 
in a dry foil ; flowering from June to Augnft and Septem¬ 
ber ; it will fiourilh in the moft unremitting drought, 
when not a blade of grafs is to be feen. Befides the names 
fet down in the title, Gerarde fays it is called maid's-hair^ 
and petty mugwet, which laft is from the French petit mu.- 
guet. 1 mu ft obferve that the common name bedjlraw^ 
(which vve have from the German) is from the verb to 
Jirew or Jlrow, anciently written draw ; thus th.e imilti- 
tudej^rcjcetf branches in the way before Chrift. Before 
the invention of feather-beds, a variety of herbs w-ere ufed 
to drew beds with ; among tliefe doubtlefs this was one. 
It is an inveterate notion that-tlie flovyers and herb of 
this plant will curdle milk, Diofeorides names it yodhm, 
from this property ; the fame property is attributed to it 
by Galen ; Matthiolus informs us that in Tufeany they 
ufe it for this purpofe, in order that their goat and (heep’s 
milk cheefe may eat the fweeter : Gerarde, who was a 
Chefliire man, fays, that in liis country, elpecially about 
Namptwich, tliey ufe it in tlieir rennet, efteemingthat 
the beft cheefe which is made with it ; and in fome of 
the Wertern Ides they curdle.milk with a ftrong decoc¬ 
tion of this herb. But Bergius and Krocker could not 
fucceed in coagulating milk with this herb alone. The 
Galium has probably been put into milk deftined to make 
cheefe, not fo much for the purpofe of curdling it, as of 
giving it a flavour, or, as Matthiolus expreifesit, to make 
it eat the fweeter. The French prefcr.rbefth’e flowers in 
hyfteric and epileptic cafes ; both thefe and the leaves dif- 
cover a fenfible acidity to the tafte ; and the flowery tops 
committed to the dill as foon as gathered, give over (fays 
Lewis) a pretty ftrong acid liquor in a moderate heat. 
The reftriiigent and refrigerating virtues tlierefore aferibed 
to this plant appear to have fome foundation. Boiled in 
alum-water, the flowering (terns dye of a good yellow 
colour; the roots dye a very fine red, not inferior to 
madder, but they are fmall. An ingenious gentleman, 
however, converfant in dying, alfured Mr. Curtis, that 
the roots produced a brighter colour than madder; and 
