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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Northern Bedstraw
Galium boreale L.

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Madder (Rubiaceae)
Flowering: June-August
Field Marks: This bedstraw has an upright stem, leaves in whorls of 4, and white flowers in a rather showy, terminal panicle.
Habitat: Wet meadows, dry slopes.
Habit: Perennial herb with creeping rhizomes.
Stems: Upright, branched, up to 2 feet tall, usually hairy at the nodes, smooth or slightly rough to the touch elsewhere.
Leaves: In whorls of 4, simple, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, up to 2 inches long, up to 1/4 inch wide, rounded or pointed at the tip, tapering to the sessile base, 3-veined, smooth or slightly rough to the touch, the edge of the leaf ciliate
Flowers: Many borne in a compact, terminal panicle, rather showy.
Sepals: Absent or nearly so.
Petals: 4, white, united below, 1/6 to 1/4 inch across.
Stamens: 4.
Pistils: Ovary inferior, 2-lobed; styles 2.
Fruits: 2-lobed, up to 1/10 inch in diameter, smooth or minutely hairy.
Notes: There is considerable variation in the amount of hairiness on the stem, leaves, and fruits. The fruits may be eaten by small birds and small mammals.

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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:27:07 EST
Menlo Park, CA [caww54]