GALIUM PALUSTRE. MARSH GOOSE-GRASS, OR
WHITE WATER BED-STRAW.
GALIUM foliis quaternis (rarius senis) ovato-lanceolatis, inæqualibus, obtusis, scabriusculis ; caulibus
diffusis, læviusculis ; fructu glabro, corolla minore.
GALIUM palustre. Linn. Sp. P i. p . 153. FI. Suec. p . 119. Huds. Angl. p. 67. Pollich Pal.
V:.} f 9 ’ Fl- Dan- *• 423. Hoffm. Germ. p. 48. Roth Germ. ml. 1 . ». 63. ml. 2. ». 178.
With. Bot. Arr. ed. 4. ml. Q.p. 184. Rclh. Cant. p. 65. Sibtk. O.v.p. 58. Jacq. Vind.
p. 23. Lightf. Scot. n. 115. Zoega Isl. Georgii. Fl. Baikal, p. 199. Engl. Bot. 1 .1857.
Lamarck Diet. ml. 2. p. 577. Lam. Fl. Fr. ed. 3. ml. 4. p. 254. Lam. Fl. Gall. Syn.
p. 300. Deslongch. Fl. Gall. ml. \.p . 8 1 . Pers. Syn. P i. ml. 1. ». 125. Wahl. Lapp,
p. 47. Alton Hort. Kero. ed. 1. ml. l.p . 142.
GALIUM caule radicato diffuso, foliis quaternis ovatis obtusis. Flail. Helv. « .7 1 9 .
GALIUM diffusis foliis quaternis verticillatis. Linn. Lapp. p. 52.
GALIUM palustre album. Bauh. Pin. p. 335.
GALIUM album. Ger. Em. p. 1 126.
GALIUM palustre, foliis quaternis obovatis inæqualibus, caulibus diffusis. Willdenow Sp. P i. ml. I
p. 585. Alton Hort. Kew. ed. 2. ml. 1. p. 236.
GALIUM palustre, foliis quaternis obovatis inæqualibus obtusis, caulibus diffusis superne ramösis.
Smith Fl. Brit. ml. \. p . 174...
CRUCIATA palustris alba. Tournef . Inst. Rei Herb.p. 115.
MO'LLU G IN IS vulgatioris varietas minor. Rail Syn. p . 224.
Welsh. Gtcendcen. Gwenwlyddy gors.
Class a n d Order, TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
[Natural Ord er. RUBIACEÆ, Juss. Decandolle. APARINES, Adam. STELLATÆ, Linn.]
Ge n . Ch a r . Cor. monopetala, plana. Sem. duo, subrotunda.
Radix perennis, subhorizontaliter repens, hie illic fibres
ramosas emittens.
Caulis pedalis, bipedalis, et ultra, debilis, ut semet sustentera
nëqueat, flexuosus, geniculatus, diffusus,
quadrangulatus, plerumque glaber, rarius angu-
lis scabriusculis, ramosus ; remis axillaribus,
sparsis, sterilibus brevioribus, tenuioribus, sim-
plicibusque; fertilibus robustioribus, iterumque
divisis.
Folia quaterna, vel non rero quina aut etiam sena, verticillate,
horizontalia, magnitudine inæqualia,
obovato-lanceolata, obtusa, uninervia, planius-
cula, vel marginibus solummodo parum.recurvis ;
superiora omnino glabra, minora, reliqua margin
® superficieque scabriuscula. Color viridis,
siccitate nigrescens.
Flores, in remis, præcipue superioribus, terminales,
cymoso-paniculali, laxe dispositi ; pedunculis tri-
chotomis, divergentibus, basi mono- vel diphyllis,
foliis parvis.
Calyx fructui adhærens.
Corolla alba, rotata, _ quadrifida, segmentis ovatis,
. acutiusculis.
Stamina quatuor. Filamenta brévia. Antheræ flavæ.
Germen inferum. Stylus unicus, filiformis, bifidus.
Stigma capitatum.
■Rucrus parvus, corolla multo minor, bilobus, lobis ro-
tondatis, lævibus, calyce non coronatus. Semina
duo, raro ad maturitatem pervenientia.
Root perennial, creeping in a somewhat horizontal direction,
here and there producing branched fibres.
Stem a foot high or more, weak, so as to be unable to
support itself, flexuose, geniculate, spreading,
quadrangular, generally smooth, rarely with the
angles rough, branched ; the branches axillary,
scattered; the sterile ones the shortest, most
slender, and simple; the fertile ones thicker, and
again divided.
L eaves growing in fours, less frequently five or six together,
verticillate, horizontal, unequal in size,
. obovate-lanceolate, obtuse, one-nerved, somewhat
plane, or having the margins alone a little
recurved, the upper ones altogether smooth and
small, the rest roughish on the Surface and at the
Flowers terminal on. the branches, and principally on
the terminal ones, cymoso-paniculate, l a x t h e
footstalks trichotomous, spreading, at the base
one- or two-leaved, with the leaves small.
Calyx adhering to the fruit.
Corolla white, rotate, quadrifid, with the segments
ovate, somewhat acute.
Stamens four. Filaments short. Anthers yellow..
G ermen below the Corolla. Style one, filiform, bifid.
Stigma capitate.
Fru it small, less than the Corolla, two-lobed, the lobes
roundish, smooth, not.crowned with the Calyx. '
Seeds two, rarely arriving at perfection.
Eig. 1. Leaf, showing its roughness. Fig. 2. Corolla, natural size. Fig. 3. Corolla, magnified, showing
l'ig. 4. The Anthers, and. Fig. 5. The bifid Style. Fig. 6. The two-seeded Fruit.
whenfitarow^ 6 *S 0n?,0^ f§ |.most com™on of the genus, in wet pastures, particularly by the sides of ditches,
in? to oil- among tad aquatics, on which it leans for support, and is consequently erect or prostrate, accord-
latter e n r f i f I B P ¥ the f01'niei' casc il runs t0 a considerable length: in the latter it is shorter: it flowers the
being known and thr° “8h°“t.* e whole of July and August. It is among our most distinctly marked species,
six in a whorl i P i f l , er lts smooth fruit, when taken in conjunction with its obtuse leaves, from four to
tanii that it ;» „ r noarly smooth quadrangular stem. Sir James Smith also remarks very justly in English Bo-
W Decandollo inCu,lari?? th,| Tspecie.s t0 have tw0 °PPosite leav®s smaller and two larger in the uppermost whorls,
from the common « re enumerates two varieties of G.palustre, the first of which is distinguished
Villa,;S bv ito flo„.Ql.)Pfai-anCe n*tle P,.ant its rouglll’sh stem ; the second, which is the Galium glomeratum of
over in'whorls of f ,S bein§. c°hected in small heads, and by its leaves being less obtuse: these leaves are more-
The order 7?;/-0Ur to8fther,upon the sterile.branches, and six together on those which produce flowers.
Sherardia most extensive in the natural arrangement, possesses but four genera,
their calyx brin<r «.A C * .a?^ Eubia, that are found in our country ; and these are essentially distinguished by
scarcely rise alJLo tbe. seed-vessel for nearly its whole length, in such a manner that its divisions
four or five stiirnonc i by their monopetalous, regular, four- or five-cleft corolla fixed upon the fruit, and
and by their seeds i n?ei tec^ wl^1[n Ik® tube of the corolla ; by their two stigmas, two-seeded almost naked fruit,
foliaceous cotyledons*”^ & strai8 1,; embryo (corculum) surrounded by a horny perisperm, a radicule inferior, and
'key are<h™bleft,?^hllal ch“rActel;s ° f ll>° fructification may be added others taken from various parts of the plant;
the stem is angular f.vf/H0St paf b perennial roots and capable in many instances o f affording dyeing matter ;
oval, oblon? or linpm- en ro®gb at the borders, as well as the leaves, which are moreover verticillate at the joints ;
exotic plants of this nr f ” ivr V-n^S en\ne: ^owers are disposed in panicles, rarely solitary and axillary*. The
stipules, which seem tn ^ ’ 1 , canaolle remai'ks, arf shrubby, with opposite leaves furnished with intermediate
t0G a capsule nr iw . oc?aPy “ie P‘ace ° f the verticillate leaves peculiar to the species of our climate : the fruit
sq 1 01 ber,y Wlth two or more cells and as many seeds.
Doeaadolle.