Galium L.
Fls small, perfect, or plants polygamous or dioec. Infl. cymose or reduced to a solitary fl. Calyx a minute ring, teeth obsolete; corolla rotate. tube very short. lobes (3)-4-(5). valvate; stamens 4. exserted; styles 2, connate near base, stigmas capitate. Ovary 2-celled, ovules 1 per cell, disk nectariferous. Fr. mostly dry, of paired 1-seeded cocci, testa adherent to pericarp. Annual to perennial slender herbs with 4-angled stems and lvs and lflike stipules forming whorls of 4-12. Sub-cosmopolitan genus with over 300 spp. The N.Z. spp. endemic Flowering and fruiting season ±11-6.
Key
1
Lf-whorls rather close-set, sts ± imbricate; fls us. terminal, almost sessile, corolla-tube up to 1mm. long
Lf-whorls rather distant, never imbricate; fls axillary, pedicels evident, corolla-tube indistinguishable
2
Stems up to 2 dm. or more long; lvs and stipules 6-15-(20) × 2-4 mm., of narrow-lanceolate order
