Chapter III: STELLATAE. Ovules solitary; leaves in whorls, without stipules

7. Galium. Corolla wheel-shaped, 4- (or rarely 3-) parted. Calyx-teeth obsolete. Fruit twin, separating into 2 indehiscent 1-seeded carpels.

8. Sherardia. Corolla funnel-form. Calyx-lobes lanceolate. Flowers subsessile, involucrate.

1. HOUSTONIA, L.

Calyx 4-lobed, persistent; the lobes in fruit distant. Corolla salver-form or funnel-form, usually much longer than the calyx-lobes, 4-lobed, the lobes valvate in the bud. Stamens 4; anthers linear or oblong. Style 1; stigmas 2. Ovary 2-celled. Pod top-shaped, globular, or didymous, thin, its summit or upper half free from and projecting beyond the tube of the calyx, loculicidal across the top. Seeds rather few (4--20 in each cell), peltate and saucer-shaped or globular-thimble-shaped, pitted.--Small herbs, with short entire stipules connecting the petioles or narrowed bases of the leaves, and cymose or solitary and peduncled flowers. These are dimorphous, in some individuals with exserted anthers and short included style; in others the anthers included and the style long, the stigmas therefore protruding. (Named for _Dr. Wm. Houston_, an English botanist who collected in Central America.)

[*] _Small and delicate, vernal-flowering; peduncles 1-flowered; corolla salver-form; upper half of the broad and somewhat 2-lobed pod free; seeds globular, with a very deep round cavity occupying the inner face._

[+] _Perennial by delicate filiform creeping rootstocks or creeping stems; peduncles filiform, 1--2' long._

1. H. caerulea, L. (BLUETS. INNOCENCE.) Glabrous; _stems erect_, slender, sparingly branched from the base (3--5' high); _leaves oblong-spatulate_ (3--4'' long); peduncle filiform, erect; corolla _light blue_, pale lilac or nearly white with a yellowish eye, with tube much longer than its lobes or than those of the calyx.--Moist and grassy places, N. Eng. to Ga., west to Mich. and Ala.; producing from early spring to midsummer its delicate little flowers.

2. H. serpyllifolia, Michx. Like the last, but filiform _stems prostrate_, extensively creeping and rooting; _leaves orbicular to ovate_ (2--4'' long); corolla rather larger, and _deep violet-blue_.--Along streamlets and on mountain-tops, Va. to Tenn. and S. C.

[+][+] _Winter-annuals, branching from the simple root; peduncles much shorter._

3. H. patens, Ell. An inch to at length a span high, with ascending branches and erect peduncles; leaves spatulate to ovate; corolla much smaller than that of n. 1, violet-blue or purplish without yellowish eye, _the tube longer than its lobes, twice the length of the calyx-lobes_.--Dry or sandy soil, S. Va. to Tex. and Ill. (?)

4. H. minima, Beck. More diffuse, _commonly scabrous_; stems at length much branched and spreading (1--4' high); lowest leaves ovate or spatulate, the upper oblong or nearly linear; earlier peduncles elongated and spreading in fruit, the later ones short; _tube of the purplish corolla not longer than its lobes or the ample calyx-lobes_ (11/2'' long).--Dry hills, Mo. to Tex. March--May.

[*][*] _Erect, mostly perennial herbs (6--20' high), with stem-leaves sessile, and flowers in small terminal cymes or clusters; corolla funnel-form, purplish, often hairy inside; seeds meniscoidal, with a ridge across the hollowed inner face._

5. H. purpurea, L. Pubescent or smooth (8--15' high); _leaves varying from roundish-ovate to lanceolate_, 3--5-ribbed; calyx-lobes longer than the half-free globular pod.--Woodlands, Md. to Ark., and southward. May--July.--Varying wonderfully, as into--

Var. ciliolata, Gray. A span high; leaves only 1/2' long, thickish; cauline oblong-spatulate; radical oval or oblong, rosulate, hirsute-ciliate; calyx-lobes a little longer than the pod.--Rocky banks, from the Great Lakes and Minn. to Ky.; passing into

Var. longifolia, Gray. A span or two high, mostly glabrous, thinner-leaved; leaves oblong-lanceolate to linear (6--20'' long); radical oval or oblong, less rosulate, not ciliate.--Rocky or gravelly ground, Maine to Minn., south to Ga. and Mo.; also northward.

Var. tenuifolia, Gray. Slender, lax, diffuse, 6--12' high, with loose inflorescence, and almost filiform branches and peduncles; cauline leaves all linear, hardly over 1'' wide.--S. E. Ohio to Va., N. C., and Tenn.

Var. calycosa, Gray. Almost 1 deg. high; leaves broadly lanceolate, thickish; calyx-lobes elongated (2--4'' long), much surpassing the pod.--From Ill. (_Hall_) to Ark. and N. Ala.

6. H. angustifolia, Michx. Stems tufted from a hard or woody root; _leaves narrowly linear_, acute, 1-ribbed, many of them fascicled; flowers crowded, short-pedicelled; lobes of the corolla densely bearded inside; _pod obovoid, acute at base, only its summit free_, opening first across the top, at length through the partition.--Barrens, Ill. to Kan., south to Tex., Tenn., and Fla.

2. OLDENLANDIA, Plumier.

Calyx 4-lobed, persistent. Corolla short, in our species wheel-shaped; the limb 4-parted, valvate in the bud. Stamens 4; anthers short. Style 1 or none; stigmas 2. Pod thin, 2-celled, many-seeded, opening loculicidally across the summit. Seeds very numerous, minute and angular.--Low herbs, with small stipules united to the petioles. (Dedicated to the memory of _Oldenland_, a German physician and botanist, who died early at the Cape of Good Hope.)

1. O. glomerata, Michx. An inconspicuous, pubescent or smoothish, branched and spreading annual (2--12' high); leaves ovate to oblong; flowers in sessile axillary clusters; corolla nearly wheel-shaped (white), much shorter than the calyx.--Wet places, near the coast, N. Y. to Fla. and Tex.

3. CEPHALANTHUS, L. BUTTON-BUSH.

Calyx-tube inversely pyramidal, the limb 4-toothed. Corolla tubular, 4-toothed; the teeth imbricated in the bud. Style thread-form, much protruded. Stigma capitate. Fruit dry and hard, small, inversely pyramidal, 2--4-celled, at length splitting from the base upward into 2--4 closed 1-seeded portions.--Shrubs, with the white flowers densely aggregated in spherical peduncled heads. (Name composed of [Greek: kephale/], _a head_, and [Greek: a)/nthos], _a flower_.)

1. C. occidentalis, L. Smooth or pubescent; leaves petioled, ovate or lanceolate-oblong, pointed, opposite or whorled in threes, with short intervening stipules.--Swamps and along streams, throughout the continent. July, Aug.

4. MITCHELLA, L. PARTRIDGE-BERRY.

Flowers in pairs, with their ovaries united. Calyx 4-toothed. Corolla funnel-form, 4-lobed; the lobes spreading, densely bearded inside, valvate in the bud. Stamens 4. Style 1; stigmas 4, linear. Fruit a berry-like double drupe, crowned with the calyx-teeth of the two flowers, with 4 small seed-like bony nutlets to each flower.--A smooth and trailing small evergreen herb, with round-ovate and shining petioled leaves, minute stipules, white fragrant flowers often tinged with purple, and scarlet edible (but nearly tasteless) berries, which remain over winter. Flowers occasionally 3--6-merous, always dimorphous; all those of some individuals having exserted stamens and included stigmas; of others, included stamens and exserted style. (This very pretty plant commemorates _Dr. John Mitchell_, an early correspondent of Linnaeus, and an excellent botanist, who resided in Virginia.)

1. M. repens, L.--Dry woods, creeping about the foot of trees, especially Coniferae, throughout our range and southward. June, July.--Leaves often variegated with whitish lines. Rarely the two flowers are completely confluent into one, with a 10-lobed corolla.

5. SPERMACOCE, Dill. BUTTON-WEED.

Calyx-tube short; the limb parted into 4 teeth. Corolla funnel-form or salver-form, valvate in the bud. Stamens 4. Stigma or style 2-cleft. Fruit small and dry, 2-celled, 2-seeded, splitting when ripe into 2 carpels, one of them usually carrying with it the partition, and therefore closed, the other open on the inner face.--Small herbs, the bases of the leaves or petioles connected by a bristle-bearing stipular membrane. Flowers small, whitish, crowded into sessile axillary whorled clusters or heads. (Name compounded of [Greek: spe/rma], _seed_, and [Greek: akoke/], _a point_, probably from the pointed calyx-teeth on the fruit.)

1. S. glabra, Michx. Glabrous perennial; stems spreading (9--20' long); leaves oblong-lanceolate; heads many-flowered; corolla little exceeding the calyx, bearded in the throat, bearing the anthers at its base; filaments and style hardly any.--River-banks, S. Ohio to Ark., Tex., and Fla. Aug.

6. DIODIA, Gronov. BUTTON-WEED.

Calyx-teeth 2--5, often unequal. Fruit 2- (rarely 3-) celled; the crustaceous carpels into which it splits all closed and indehiscent. Flowers 1--3 in each axil. Otherwise resembling Spermacoce. Flowering all summer. (Name from [Greek: di/odos], _a thoroughfare_; the species often growing by the wayside.)

1. D. Virginiana, L. Smooth or hairy perennial; stems spreading (1--2 deg. long); leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, sessile; corolla white (1/2' long), the _slender tube abruptly expanded into the large limb; style 2-parted; fruit oblong, strongly furrowed_, crowned mostly with 2 slender calyx-teeth.--Low grounds along streams, southern N. J. to Fla., west to Ark. and Tex.

2. D. teres, Walt. Hairy or minutely pubescent annual; stem spreading (3--9' long), nearly terete; leaves linear-lanceolate, closely sessile, rigid; _corolla funnel-form_ (2--3'' long, whitish), with short lobes, not exceeding the long bristles of the stipules; _style undivided; fruit_ obovate-turbinate, _not furrowed_, crowned with 4 short calyx-teeth.--Sandy soil, N. J. to W. Ill., Fla., and Tex.

7. GALIUM, L. BEDSTRAW. CLEAVERS.

Calyx-teeth obsolete. Corolla 4-parted, rarely 3-parted, wheel-shaped, valvate in the bud. Stamens 4, rarely 3, short. Styles 2. Fruit dry or fleshy, globular, twin, separating when ripe into the 2 seed-like, indehiscent, 1-seeded carpels.--Slender herbs, with small cymose flowers (produced in summer), square stems, and whorled leaves, the roots often containing a red coloring matter. (Name from [Greek: ga/la], _milk_, which some species are used to curdle.)

Sec. 1. _Naturalized species; fruit dry._

G. VERUM, L. (YELLOW BEDSTRAW.) Perennial; stems smooth, erect; leaves 8 or sometimes 6 in the whorls, linear, roughish, soon deflexed; flowers very numerous, paniculate, yellow; fruit usually smooth.--Dry fields, E. Mass. (Nat. from Eu.)

G. MOLLUGO, L. Perennial, smooth throughout; stems erect or diffuse, 2 or 3 deg. long; leaves 8, or 6 on the branchlets, oblanceolate to nearly linear; flowers very numerous in ample almost leafless panicles; fruit smooth.--Roadsides and fields, N. Y. and Penn. (Nat. from Eu.)

G. ANGLICUM, Huds. Annual, slender, diffuse, seldom 1 deg. high, glabrous; leaves 5--7, oblanceolate to nearly linear (3'' long), their margins and the angles of the stem spinulose-scabrous; flowers rather few, cymulose on leafy branches, greenish-white, very small; fruit glabrous, more or less tuberculate.--Roadsides, Bedford Co., Va. (_Curtiss_). (Nat. from Eu.)

G. TRICORNE, With. Annual, resembling _G. Aparine_, rather stout, with simple branches; leaves 6 or 8, oblanceolate, cuspidate-mucronate, the margins and stem retrorsely prickly-hispid; flowers mostly in clusters of 3, dull white; fruits rather large, tuberculate-granulate, not hairy, pendulous.--Fields, eastward. (Nat. from Eu.)

Sec. 2. _Indigenous species; fruit dry._

[*] _Annual; leaves about 8 in a whorl; peduncles 1--3-flowered, axillary; fruit bristly with hooked prickles._

1. G. Aparine, L. (CLEAVERS. GOOSE-GRASS.) Stem weak and reclining, bristle-prickly backward, hairy at the joints; leaves lanceolate, tapering to the base, short-pointed, rough on the margins and midrib (1--2' long); flowers white.--Shaded grounds, throughout the continent; probably as an introduced plant eastward.

[*][*] _Perennials; leaves in 4's, comparatively large, and broad (narrower in n. 7 and 8), not cuspidate-pointed, more or less distinctly 3-nerved; fruit uncinate-hispid (except in n. 6 and 7)._

[+] _Peduncles loosely 3--several-flowered; flowers dull purple to yellowish-white._

2. G. pilosum, Ait. _Hairy; leaves oval_, dotted, hairy (1' long), the lateral nerves obscure; _peduncles 2--3-forked, the flowers all pedicelled_.--Dry copses, R. I. and Vt. to Ill., E. Kan., and southward.

Var. puncticulosum, Torr. & Gray. Almost glabrous; leaves varying to elliptical-oblong, hispidulous-ciliate.--Va. to Tex.

3. G. Kamtschaticum, Steller. Stems weak, mainly glabrous (1 deg. high); _leaves orbicular_ to oblong-ovate, thin (1/2--1' long), slightly pilose; flowers slenderly pedicellate; _corolla glabrous, yellowish-white_, not turning dark, _its lobes merely acute_. (G. circaezans, var. montanum, _Torr. & Gray_.)--Higher mountains of N. Eng., L. Canada, and far westward. (Asia.)

4. G. circaezans, Michx. (WILD LIQUORICE.) Smooth or downy (1 deg. high); _leaves oval_, varying to ovate-oblong, _mostly obtuse_, ciliate (1--11/2' long); _peduncles usually once forked, the branches elongated_ and widely diverging in fruit, _bearing several remote flowers on very short lateral pedicels_, reflexed in fruit; lobes of the _greenish corolla hairy outside, acute or acuminate_.--Rich woods, N. Eng. to Minn., south to Fla. and Tex.

5. G. lanceolatum, Torr. (WILD LIQUORICE.) Nearly glabrous; _leaves_ (except the lowest) _lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, tapering to the apex_ (2' long); _corolla glabrous, yellowish turning dull purple, lobes more acuminate_; otherwise like the last.--Dry woods, N. Eng. to N. Mich. and Minn.

6. G. latifolium, Michx. Smooth (1--2 deg. high); _leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate_, acute (2' long), the midrib and margins rough; cymes panicled, loosely many-flowered, the purple flowers on _slender spreading pedicels; fruit smooth_, rather fleshy.--Dry woods, mountains of Penn. to N. C. and Tenn.

7. G. Arkansanum, Gray. Similar but lower; leaves lanceolate to linear (1' long or less), the lateral nerves obscure or none.--S. Mo. and Ark.

[+][+] _Leaves narrow; flowers bright white, numerous in a compact panicle._

8. G. boreale, L. (NORTHERN BEDSTRAW.) Smooth (1--2 deg. high); leaves linear-lanceolate; fruit minutely bristly, sometimes smooth.--Rocky banks of streams, Maine to Penn., Iowa, Minn., and westward. (Eu., Asia.)

[*][*][*] _Leaves in 4's, 5's, or 6's, small, 1-nerved; flowers white; fruit smooth (flowers greenish and fruit hispid in n. 12.)_

[+] _Leaves pointless._

9. 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, the margins and midrib rough; _peduncles scattered, 1--7-flowered_; corolla-lobes and stamens often only 3.--Sphagnous bogs and wet ground, throughout the continent. Exceedingly variable.--Var. PUSILLUM, Gray, the smallest form; leaves only in 4's, 3--4'' long, narrow, in age often reflexed; peduncles 1-flowered. In cold bogs, northward.--Var. LATIFOLIUM, Torr., the larger and broadest-leaved form; leaves 6 or 7'' long, often 2'' wide. From Canada, south and west. (Eu., Asia.)

10. G. concinnum, Torr. & Gray. Stems low and slender (6--12' high), with minutely roughened angles; _leaves all in 6's, linear, slightly pointed_, veinless, the margins upwardly roughened; _peduncles 2--3 times forked, diffusely panicled_; pedicels short.--Dry hills, Penn. to Va., west to Minn., Iowa, and Ark.

[+][+] _Leaves cuspidately mucronate or acuminate._

11. G. asprellum, Michx. (ROUGH BEDSTRAW.) _Stem_ much branched, _rough backwards with hooked prickles_, leaning on bushes (3--5 deg. high); _leaves in whorls of 6, or 4--5 on the branchlets, oval-lanceolate_, with almost prickly margins and midrib; peduncles short, 2--3 times forked.--Alluvial ground, N. Eng. to N. C., west to Minn., Iowa, and Mo.

12. G. triflorum, Michx. (SWEET-SCENTED BEDSTRAW.) Stem (1--3 deg. long) bristly-roughened backward on the angles; leaves elliptical-lanceolate, bristle pointed, with slightly roughened margins (1--2' long); peduncles 3-flowered, the flowers all pedicelled, greenish; fruit beset with hooked bristles.--Rich woodlands, throughout the continent. Sweet-scented in drying. (Eu.)

Sec. 3. _Perennial; fruit a berry; leaves in 4's, 1-nerved._

13. G. hispidulum, Michx. Hirsute-pubescent, scabrous, or sometimes nearly smooth, 1--2 deg. high, diffusely branched; leaves oblong or oval, mucronate (3--6'' long), pedicels solitary or commonly 2 or 3 from the small involucral whorl, all naked, or one of them bracteolate; flowers white; berry purple, glabrate.--Dry or sandy soil, southern N. J. to Fla., along the coast.

8. SHERARDIA, Dill.

Calyx-lobes lanceolate, persistent. Corolla funnel-form, the limb 4--5-lobed. Stamens 4--5. Style filiform, 2-cleft, stigmas capitate. Fruit dry, twin, of 2 indehiscent 1-seeded carpels.--A slender procumbent herb, with square stems, lanceolate pungent leaves in whorls of 4--6, and small subsessile blue or pinkish flowers surrounded by a gamophyllous involucre. (Named for _Dr. William Sherard_, patron of Dillenius.)

S. ARVENSIS, L. The only species; sparingly naturalized from Eu.

ORDER 53. VALERIANACEAE. (VALERIAN FAMILY.)

_Herbs, with opposite leaves and no stipules; the calyx-tube coherent with the ovary, which has one fertile 1-ovuled cell and two abortive or empty ones; the stamens distinct, 1--3, fewer than the lobes of the corolla, and inserted on its tube._--Corolla tubular or funnel-form, often irregular, mostly 5-lobed, the lobes imbricated in the bud. Style slender; stigmas 1--3. Fruit indehiscent, 1-celled (the two empty cells of the ovary disappearing), or 3-celled, two of them empty, the other 1-seeded. Seed suspended, anatropous, with a large embryo and no albumen.--Flowers in panicled or clustered cymes. (Roots often odorous and antispasmodic.)

1. VALERIANA, Tourn. VALERIAN.

Limb of the calyx of several plumose bristles (like a pappus) which are rolled up inward in flower, but unroll and spread as the seed-like 1-celled fruit matures. Corolla commonly gibbous near the base, the 5-lobed limb nearly regular. Stamens 3.--Perennial herbs, with thickened strong-scented roots, and simple or pinnate leaves. Flowers in many species imperfectly dioecious or dimorphous. (A mediaeval Latin name of uncertain origin.)

[*] _Root spindle-shaped, large and deep (6--12' long); leaves thickish._

1. V. edulis, Nutt. Smooth, or minutely downy when very young; stem straight (1--4 deg. high), few-leaved; leaves commonly minutely and densely ciliate, those of the root spatulate and lanceolate, of the stem pinnately parted into 3--7 long and narrow divisions; flowers in a long and narrow interrupted panicle, nearly dioecious; corolla whitish, obconical (2'' long).--Wet plains and prairies, Ohio and Ont. to Iowa, Minn., and westward. June.

[*][*] _Root fibrous; leaves thin. (Stems 1--3 deg. high.)_

2. V. sylvatica, Banks. Smooth or minutely pubescent; _root-leaves ovate or oblong, entire_, rarely with 2 small lobes; stem-leaves pinnate, with 3--11 oblong-ovate or lanceolate nearly entire leaflets; cyme at first close, many-flowered; _corolla inversely conical_ (3'' long, rose-color or white).--Wet ground, Newf. to southern N. Y., N. Mich., westward and northward. June.

3. V. pauciflora, Michx. Smooth, slender, surculose; _root-leaves ovate, heart-shaped, toothed_, pointed, sometimes with 2 small lateral divisions; stem-leaves pinnate, with 3--7 ovate toothed leaflets; branches of the panicled cyme few-flowered; tube of the (pale pink) _corolla long and slender_ (1/2' long).--Woods and alluvial banks, Penn. to S. Ill., Mo., and Tenn. June.

2. VALERIANELLA, Tourn. CORN SALAD. LAMB-LETTUCE.

Limb of the calyx obsolete or merely toothed. Corolla funnel-form, equally or unequally 5-lobed. Stamens 3, rarely 2. Fruit 3-celled, two of the cells empty and sometimes confluent into one, the other 1-seeded.--Annuals and biennials, usually smooth, with forking stems, tender and rather succulent leaves (entire or cut-lobed towards the base), and white or whitish cymose-clustered and bracted small flowers.--Our species all have the limb of the calyx obsolete, and are so much alike in aspect, flowers, etc., that good characters are only to be taken from the fruit. They all have a rather short corolla, the limb of which is nearly regular. (Name a diminutive of Valeriana.)

[*] _Corolla bluish; fruit with a corky mass at the back of the fertile cell._