filaments short. Ovary 2-celled; styles 2, connate at the base; stigmas capitate; ovules solitary in each cell. Fruit didymous, small, dry, indehiscent.
A large genus of over 160 species, found in all temperate regions. Both the New Zealand species are endemic.
| Leaves in whorls of 4, linear-lanceolate | 1. G. tenuicaule. |
| Leaves in whorls of 4, oblong | 2. G. umbrosum. |
1. G. tenuicaule, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 468.—Stems slender, straggling, branched, 6 in. to 3 ft. long, glabrous or slightly scabrid on the angles. Leaves in rather distant whorls of 4, ¼–¾ in. long, linear-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, awned or acuminate, narrowed to the base, scabrid on the margins and midrib beneath. Flowers minute, white, 112 in. diam., in 1–4-flowered axillary cymes; peduncles usually longer than the leaves, decurved in fruit. Fruit of 2 minute globose cocci, dark-brown, glabrous.—Raoul, Choix, 46; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 113; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 120; Kirk, Students' Fl. 249. G. triloba. Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 192.
North and South Islands: Damp places on the margins of woods and swamps; not uncommon from Ahipara southwards. Sea level to 2.500ft. December–March.
2. G. umbrosum, Sol. ex Forst. Prodr. n. 500.—Stems 1–10 in. long, suberect or prostrate, much or sparingly branched, weak or rather stiff and wiry, glabrous or more or less ciliate on the angles. Leaves in whorls of 4, 110–13 long, broadly oblong or elliptical-oblong, acuminate or mucronate, marked with pellucid dots when held between the eye and the light, glabrous or the margins ciliated, petioles short. Flowers very minute, white; peduncles axillary, longer than the leaves, usually 1-flowered, more rarely 2- or 3-flowered. Fruit of 2 minute globose rugulose cocci.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 113; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 121; Kirk, Students Fl. 249. G. propinquum, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 469. G. erythrocaulon, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 332.
North and South Islands: From the North Cape southwards to Foveaux Strait; plentiful. Ascends to 3000 ft. December–March.
The Eurooean G. Aparine, L., a much larger and coarser species than, either of the above, with weak straggling or subscandent scabrous stems 2–6 ft. long, and lanceolate leaves in whorls of 6–8, has become thoroughly established in many localities in both Islands.
4. ASPERULA, Linn.
Herbs with slender quadrangular stems. Leaves in whorls of 4 to 8, of which 2 are leaves and the remainder stipules, as in Galium. Flowers minute, solitary or in axillary or terminal cymes. Calyx-limb wanting. Corolla funnel-shaped, with a distinct limb and 4 spreading lobes. Stamens 4; anthers exserted. Ovary 2-celled; styles 2, more or less connate at the base; stigmascapitate. Fruit didymous, small, dry, indehiscent.
