Volume IV (1988) - Flora of New Zealand Naturalised Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Dicotyledons
Copy a link to this page Cite this record

Galium L.

GALIUM L.

Annual or perennial herbs with slender, usually 4-angled stems. Lvs and leaflike stipules similar, in whorls of 4-12, mainly sessile or subsessile. Fls small, usually ⚥, rarely unisexual, in terminal or axillary panicles or cymes, rarely solitary; ultimate infl. branches with or without bracts; bracteoles 0. Calyx a minute ridge. Corolla (3)-4-(5)-lobed, usually rotate with very short or almost no tube, rarely funnelform. Stamens 4, usually very short. Ovary 2-celled; ovules 1 per cell; styles 2, connate towards base; stigmas capitate. Fr. dry, of 2, 1-seeded mericarps, glabrous or variously hairy, sometimes bristly.

Key

1
Infl. of numerous terminal and axillary cymes, aggregated to form a ± continuous or interrupted, densely-flowered panicle, especially obvious at maturity; plants perennial and stoloniferous, or if annual then mericarps papillate but not with hooked hairs
2
Infl. of few to many, terminal and axillary cymes, interrupted and not forming a panicle, usually loose and open if cymes numerous; plants perennial and non-stoloniferous, or if annual then mericarps with hooked hairs at least on 1 of the pair
5
2
Main stems terete or bluntly 4-angled; corolla yellow, or more rarely cream
3
Main stems acutely 4-angled; corolla white, greenish or reddish
4
3
Stem (except at base) and infl. rachis densely puberulent; corolla rotate with tube scarcely developed
Stem and infl. rachis glabrous or glabrate; corolla funnelform with tube = or slightly < lobes
4
Rootstock slender; lvs and stipules shining; corolla greenish inside and reddish outside
Rootstock stout; lvs and stipules dull; corolla white
5
Annuals; mericarps with hooked bristles
6
Perennials; mericarps usually glabrous, if hairy, then hairs not hooked
7
6
Plants generally large (stems usually (30)-50-200 cm long); stems, lvs and stipules prominently scabrid; mericarps ± globose
Plant small (stems usually < 20 cm long), glabrous or slightly scabridulous; mericarps cylindric
7
Cymes usually with > 4 fls, if fewer, then stems densely retrorsely scabrid, the cymes usually aggregated in small panicles
8
Cymes with 1-4 fls, usually distant, not forming panicles; stems glabrous or retrorsely and softly ciliate
10
8
Lvs and stipules sharply acute or mucronate
Lvs and stipules obtuse to subacute
9
9
Lvs and stipules drying black or dark brown; cymes rather open with all the branches strongly divaricating at fruiting
Lvs and stipules drying green to brown; cymes rather dense with the branches moderately divaricating at fruiting and some remaining erect or suberect
10
Whorls of lvs and stipules close-set, sometimes imbricate; fls usually unisexual; corolla tube 0.3-1-(1.5) mm long
Whorls of lvs and stipules distant, not imbricate; fls ⚥; corolla tube hardly evident
11
11
Stems usually > 20 cm long; lamina of lvs and stipules narrow, usually oblanceolate to spathulate; peduncles usually 3-20 mm long
Stems usually < 20 cm long; lamina of lvs and stipules broad, usually elliptic or broad-ovate to obovate; peduncles usually 0-3 mm long

c. 300 spp., temperate and montane tropical regions. Native spp. 3, naturalised 9.

The spp. of this large genus are sometimes difficult to identify and the taxonomy of some European spp. is rather confused. Representatives of most of the spp. described below were determined by F. Ehrendorfer, Vienna.

In Galium spp. the infl. may be anything from a solitary fl. to a few-flowered cyme or a large diffuse cymose panicle with several orders of branches. In some annual spp. most of the plant functions as a single infl. In all spp. found in N.Z. the fls are pedicellate with the exception of the ♀ fls of G. perpusillum, a sp. rather aberrant in Galium (see under G. perpusillum). Peduncles when present consist of the penultimate infl. branches and like the lower orders of branches of the more compound infls they are often subtended by leaflike bracts. In this account pedicel and peduncle lengths include flowering and fruiting stages.

Click to go back to the top of the page
Top