[Illustration: THE GREAT HEDGE BEDSTRAW.]
In the Bedstraw family (order _Rubiaceæ_) we have two very common, hedgerow plants--the Great Hedge Bedstraw (_Galium Mollugo_) and the Goose-grass or Cleavers (_G. Aparine_). The first is a very straggling plant, with a square stem, thickened at the joints, that often reaches a length of four or five feet. Its leaves are elliptical, with apex terminating suddenly in a bristle-like point, and margins roughened by prickles that are either at right angles or pointing more or less forward. They are arranged in whorls, usually of eight, but sometimes six. The little white flowers, which bloom during July and August, are arranged in panicles with spreading branches, the lower of which are either horizontal or bent downward. The fruit is smooth.
The Goose Grass is so named because it is eaten by geese; and it is also known as the Cleavers because its fruits, which are covered with hooked bristles, cling tenaciously to our clothing and to the covering of animals. Its straggling stem often reaches a length of four or five feet, and forms tangled masses with the stems and leaves of other hedgerow plants. The leaves are narrow and keeled; and the small, white flowers are arranged in small axillary clusters of two or three. The whole plant is rough with hooked bristles.
We conclude this chapter with a description of the common Teasel (_Dipsacus sylvestris_) of the order _Dipsaceæ_. This is really a very graceful plant, rarely less than three or four feet high, and sometimes reaching six feet or more. Its stem is very stout and prickly; and its large bright green leaves are simple, sessile, and arranged in opposite pairs. They are prickly beneath, and the two leaves of each pair are united at their bases in such a manner that they form hollows in which the rain-water collects. The reservoirs so formed often contain drowned insects which have flown or fallen into the water, or which have been washed down the stem by the rain. Their dead bodies decompose, giving rise to nitrogenous and other products of decay which generally discolour the water. These products are valuable as plant food, and it has been said that they are absorbed by the leaves. The flowers of the Teasel are collected in large heads, covered with straight, stiff bristles, and have an involucre of bracts which curve upwards. The flowers are of a pale purple colour. They commence to open near the middle of the head, forming a horizontal circle; and then they expand both upwards and downwards from this level. The flowers are not conspicuous individually, nor does each individual flower produce much pollen; but the large heads of bloom attract numerous insects which climb about among the flowers in search of nectar, covering their bodies with pollen, and thus aiding the process of fertilisation.