Galium verum subsp. wirtgenii, (F. W. Schultz) Oborny

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1976, Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae), Cambridge University Press : 22

(b) Subsp. wirtgenii (F. W. Schultz) Oborny , Verb. Naturf. Ver. Brünn 23(2): 735 (1885)

( G. praecox (K. H. Lang) H. Braun ):

Stem erect; internodes longer than the leaves. Leaves 25-40 x 1-3 mm; margin usually not recurved as far as the midrib. Inflorescence branches usually shorter than the corresponding internodes; inflorescence interrupted. Corolla lemon-yellow; flowers odourless. Flowering earlier than subsp. (a). 2«=22. Wet meadows. • C. Europe.

In the north, where subsp. (a) is tetraploid and subsp. (b) diploid, the distinction between them is obvious. In the south, where diploid plants of subsp. (a) occur, the distinction is less clear. G. verum hybridizes with several species of Sect. Leiogalium, and includes numerous ecological and geographical races which have still to be classified. The rank of many taxa which have been described from the U.S.S.R., e.g. G. ruthenicum Willd. , Sp. Pl. 1: 597 (1798) ( G. verum subsp. ruthenicum (Willd.) P. Fourn. ), G. tomentellum Klokov in Kotov, FI. RSS Ucr. 10: 470 (1961), G. borysthenicum Klokov , op. cit. 471 (1961), G. tenderiense Klokov , loc. cit. (1961), G. densiflorum Ledeb. , FI. Altaica 1: 137 (1829), is doubtful.