Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains

48. Rubiaceae, the Madder Family

1. Galium L. -- Bedstraw

2. Galium obtusum Bigel. -- Bluntleaf bedstraw


Stems 2-6 dm long, branched throughout or mainly from the base, pubescent at the nodes, otherwise glabrous. Leaves in whorls of 4(-6), ascending to spreading, linear to lanceolate, oblanceolate or elliptic-oblong, 10-25(30) mm long, (2)3-5(6) mm wide, hispidulous on the margins and slightly so on the midrib beneath, often slightly revolute along the margins, obtuse-tipped. Inflorescences terminal on main stems and branches, not overtopped by lateral branches. Corolla lobes 4, 1-1.3 mm long, acute. Fruit segments black, 2.5-3.5 mm in diameter at maturity; fruiting pedicels 5-10 mm long. May--Jul. Wet meadows, stream banks, ditches, wet thickets and floodplains; uncommon, e and sc SD, e and c NE; (N.S. and Que. to MN and SD, s to FL and e TX).
GIF- Distribution Map

Map key


Previous Section -- Galium labradoricum (Wieg.) Wieg. -- Labrador bedstraw
Return to Family -- Rubiaceae - The Madder Family
Next Section -- Galium trifidum L. -- Small bedstraw
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