shepster3t

See shapester. Sherardia (she-rär'di-a), n. [NL. (Dillenius, 1719), named after W. Sherard (1659-1728), an English botanist.] A genus of gamopetalous plants, of the order Rubiaceæ. It is unlike all others of the tribe Galieæ in having lanceolate and persistent calyx-lobes, and is characterized by subse ile flowers surrounded by an involucre, and by a two-branched style and capitate stigma. It has a funnel-shaped corolla with four ovate spreading lobes, four stamens, and a two-celled ovary containing two ovules and ripening into twin nutlets. The only species, S. arvensis, the field-madder, also known as spurwort, is a native of Europe and the Mediterranean region from Persia westward. It is a slender, roughish, and procumbent herb, with four-angled branches, and lanceolate prickly-pointed leaves four or six in a whorl. The small pink or blue flowers are borne in clusters surrounded by an involucre formed of united, bracts.