Galium palustre L.

Marsh bedstraw, common marsh bedstraw

Some Gallium species

	Galium aparine	Galium asprellum	Galium mollugo
Common Name	catchweed bedstraw	rough bedstraw	smooth bedstraw
Plant	Stem is square stem, purplish in the spring, green as the plant matures. All parts of the plant are covered with tiny velcro-like hooks.	Erect, up to 6½′ (2 m) tall; or usually creeping, spreading up to 7′ (2.1 m), clambering over other plants. Stems are 4-angled and rough to the touch, with downward-pointing hairs.	Smooth bedstraw is vine-like, growing to a length of up to 4′ (1.2 m). Lower stems often lie on the ground, with upper portions of the plant clambering over other vegetation. Stems are square in cross-section, and may be purplish in the spring, turning green as the plant matures. Unlike catchweed bedstraw, which feels sandpapery to the touch, smooth bedstraw is smooth.
Leaves	Whorls of 6-8 leaves every few inches, each 1–2″ (2.5–5 cm) long.	The main stem contains regular whorls of six rough-textured leaves, while the whorls on branches may have 4 or 5. Leaves are elliptic to lanceolate, ¾ ⨉ ⅛″ (2 cm ⨉ 6 mm) in size, usually wider toward the tips.	In whorls of 6-8, 1–1½″ (2.5–3.8 cm) long, smooth.
Flowers	4-petaled, white, ⅛″ (3.2 mm) around, appearing from May to July.	White, ⅛″ (3 mm) wide, in inflorescences branched up to three times, each up to ¾″ (1.9 cm) wide. Each flower resembles a tiny 4-pointed star, with four sharp-tipped petals, four stamens, and two short styles. Flowers appear from May to August or September.	Hundreds of tiny white 4-petaled flowers ⅛″ (3.2 mm) across, producing white masses.
Fruit	Globular fruits are burrs containing 1-3 seeds. Their hooked, velcro-like hairs catch rides on passing animals.	Dry fruits are 1/16″ (2 mm) wide, spherical in shape, and paired. Each fruit contains a seed.	Each carpel contains a seed that is convex on one side and concave on the other.
Range/ Zones
Habitats	Forests and woodlands, meadows, prairies, disturbed areas, and cultivated crops.	Moist grounds in meadows, thickets, wet disturbed areas and riparian edges. It prefers at least partial shade.	Hedges, bushes, paths, meadows and slopes at elevations up to 1.3 mi (2.1 km) above sea level.

	Galium odoratum	You are here Galium palustre
Common Name	sweet woodruff	marsh bedstraw
Plant	This low-growing plant may reach 1½′ (50 cm) in length, but often forms flat mats on the ground, so it appears to be only a few inches high. Plants have a sweet scent.	Long, sprawling stems, usually square in cross-section, are heavily branched and sparsely leaved. Stems are fairly weak, tending to lie against other plants or form mats. These perennials can reach 3′ (1 m), but usually remain less than half that in size.
Leaves	¾–1¾″ (2–5 cm) long, arranged in whorls of 6-9. The dried leaves’ odor is like nutty vanilla.	Whorls of four to six lanceolate leaves appear at intervals along the stems. Each leaf is ⅛–¾″ (5–20 mm) long, with leaf tips that are blunt or rounded, rather than pointed. Leaf edges feel rough due to the presence of tiny backward-curved hooks.
Flowers	Small white flowers, each ⅛–¼″ (4–7 mm) in diameter, are raised above the leaves on thin stalks	Spreading loose, branched cymes are comprised of about 100 tiny white flowers. Each flower has four sharp-pointed petals, and is about 1/16–⅛″ (3–4 mm) around. Flowers appear from June to July.
Fruit	1/16–⅛″ (2–4 mm) in diameter, surrounded by tiny hooks like burrs.	Pairs of globose mericarps or nutlets, 1/32–⅛″ (1.2–3.5 mm) in size, and smooth or wrinkled. Each nutlet contains a single seed.
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 4-8
Habitats	Meadows and fields.	Marshes, wet fields and meadows, wetland edges, and swamps.

Galium palustre description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.