2792
A S P E R U L A arvensis.
Field Woodruff.
T E T R A N D R IA JSEonogynia,
Gen. Char. Cor. of 1 petal; funnel-shaped; superior.
Seeds 2, not crowned.
Spec. Char. Leaves 6—10 in a whorl; linear-lanceolate,
obtuse. Flowers aggregated, terminal, sessile,
in pairs. Bracteas long, ciliated. Root annual.
Syn. Asperula arvensis. Linn. Sp. PI. 150. Willd.
Sp. PI. v. 1. 576. Banks, Plym. and Devon.
FI. no. VIII. Hook. Brit. FI. ed. 2. 68. Engl.
Bot. ed. 2. v. 2. 4. Mert. and Koch, Deut. FI.
v. 1.761. De Cand. FI. Fr. ed. 2. v. 4. 244.
T H I S plant, which is of frequent occurrence in the central
parts of Europe, is probably only an occasional visitor
to England, its seeds being now and then accidentally imported.
The figure is taken from a specimen supplied by
the author of the local Flora above quoted, who gathered it
a few yards within the left-hand gate at the end of Long-
bridge, Saltram, where Mr. C. Johns discovered it in the
year 1830, but where however the plant is now nearly, if
not quite lost, in consequence of the construction of a railroad.
Linnaeus mentions England among its localities.
Its resemblance to Sherardia arvensis is such, that it may
chance to have been passed over without being discovered,
although its leaves are longer and narrower.
The root is annual, fibrous. Stem square, ascending,
branched; branches opposite, unequal, rarely branched