| Northern bedstraw | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Rubiaceae |
| Genus: | Galium |
| Species: | G. boreale |
| Binomial name | |
| Galium boreale | |
Galium boreale or northern bedstraw [1] is a perennial plant species of the Rubiaceae family. It is widespread over the temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America including most of Canada and the northern United States. [2] [3] [4]
G. boreale is a perennial plant that dies back to the ground every winter. [5] [6] Established plants spread by rhizomes, creating colonies of new plants around the original one. [5] [6] [7]
The squarish unbranched stems may grow between 20 centimetres (7.9 in) and 50 centimetres (20 in) tall. [5] [6] The leaves are attached directly to the stem in groups of four; spaced evenly like the spokes of a wheel. [5] [6] [7] Leaves are longer than they are wide and have three prominent veins. [5] [6] [7]
The small white flowers grow in a fairly showy panicles from the top of the stem. [5] [6] [7] Each individual flower has 4 pointed segments that fold back from a fused tube enclosing the stamens and pistil. [5] [6] The lightly perfumed flowers have no calyx. [5] [6] Seeds are formed in pairs in dark fruits that may be covered in short hairs. [5] [6] [7] The Latin specific epithet boreale means northern. [8]
Galium boreale is found in sunny areas with dry to moist soil in forests, shrubs or grassland. [5] [6] It is native to the sub arctic and temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere. [9] [7] It is listed as endangered in the states of Maryland and Massachusetts. [10]
Galium boreale is confirmed as a food plant for the larvae of Deilephila elpenor , D. porcellus , Epirrhoe galiata , Eupithecia subumbrata and Gandaritis pyraliata . [11]
The species Galium boreale was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 based on the European population. [12] [9]
Galium foliis quaternis lanceolatis trinerviis glabris, caule erecto, seminibus hispidis.
— Carl Linnaeus, "Galium boreale", Species Plantarum (1753)
In 1818, Galium septentrionale Roem. & Schult. was described by Johann Jacob Roemer and Josef August Schultes based on the North American population. [9] [13] G. septentrionale was determined to be a synonym of G. boreale in 2003. [9]
Galium boreale is edible, with a sweet smell and taste, and can be eaten as a wild salad green. Varieties such as Galium boreale which do not contain the small hooks on the stem are not as palatable as the hooked varieties of Galium, like Galium aparine , but are important plants to remember for survival purposes. [14] Galium boreale is known as "bedstraw" because it is used as fragrant stuffing for mattresses. [15] There is also chemical evidence for its use in red textile dyes during the "Viking age" (year 800 to 1066). [16]
Galium is a large genus of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Rubiaceae, occurring in the temperate zones of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Some species are informally known as bedstraw.
Sherardia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus contains only one species, Sherardia arvensis, the (blue) field madder, which is widespread across most of Europe and northern Africa as well as southwest and central Asia and Macaronesia. It is also reportedly naturalized in Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Kerguelen, Ethiopia, Sudan, southern Africa, Mexico, Costa Rica, South America, Bermuda, Cuba, Haiti and much of Canada and the United States.
Allium canadense, the Canada onion, Canadian garlic, wild garlic, meadow garlic and wild onion is a perennial plant native to eastern North America from Texas to Florida to New Brunswick to Montana. The species is also cultivated in other regions as an ornamental and as a garden culinary herb. The plant is also reportedly naturalized in Cuba.
Galium verum is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Rubiaceae. It is widespread across most of Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia from Israel, Lebanon and Turkey to Japan and Kamchatka. It is naturalized in Tasmania, New Zealand, Canada, and the northern half of the United States. It is considered a noxious weed in some places.
Galium triflorum is a herbaceous plant of the family Rubiaceae. It is widespread in northern Europe, eastern Asia and North America. The plant is considered a noxious weed in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Galium album, the white bedstraw or hedge bedstraw, is a herbaceous annual plant of the family Rubiaceae.
Galium mollugo, common name hedge bedstraw or false baby's breath, is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Rubiaceae. It shares the name hedge bedstraw with the related European species, Galium album.
Galium sylvaticum, commonly known as Scotch mist or wood bedstraw, is a plant species of the genus Rubiaceae. Its genus name, Galium, is derived from the Greek word for "milk," apparently because some species have been used to curdle milk.
Galium tricornutum is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the common names rough corn bedstraw, roughfruit corn bedstraw, and corn cleavers. It is widespread across most of Europe plus northern Africa and southern Asia, from Norway, Portugal and Morocco to China. It is also naturalized in Australia, the Canary Islands, Mauritius, Madeira, Réunion, Brazil, Argentina, and scattered locales in North America.
Galium aparine, with common names including cleavers, clivers, catchweed "robin-run-the-hedge", and sticky willy among others, is an annual, herbaceous plant of the family Rubiaceae.
Hornungia procumbens is a species of herb native to the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. Common names include oval purse, slenderweed and prostrate hutchinsia.
Galium murale is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the common names small goosegrass, yellow wall bedstraw and tiny bedstraw. It is native to the Mediterranean Basin of southern Europe and northern Africa, and the Middle East from Turkey and the Caucasus east to Iran and south to Saudi Arabia and Somalia. It is also considered native to the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores. It is naturalised in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile and California.
Galium parisiense is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae known by the common name wall bedstraw. A native of the Mediterranean area and Western Europe, it has become naturalised in North America and other parts of Europe.
Galium trifidum is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family, known by the common name three-petal bedstraw. It grows widespread in the arctic, temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere: northern and central Asia, northern and eastern Europe and much of North America.
Galium rubioides is a species of plants in the family Rubiaceae, native to Europe and Asia. Natural distribution is from Austria and Croatia east to Russia and Turkey, plus the Caucasus, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, northern China and the Amur region of Russia. The species is also reportedly naturalized in Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
Galium rubrum is a plant species in the Rubiaceae. It is known only from mountainous areas on Switzerland and northern Italy.
Galium elongatum is a species of plants in the Rubiaceae. It is widespread across most of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from Turkey to Palestine to Iran.
Galium glaucophyllum, the Sardinian bedstraw, is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean.
Galium montis-arerae, the Pizzo Arera bedstraw, is a rare plant species in the Rubiaceae. It is named after the mountain called Pizzo Arera, in the Bergamo Alps of Lombardia region in northern Italy. It is found only in the range from Monte Pegherolo to Concarena in Bergamasque Prealps.
Galium megalospermum, the Swiss bedstraw or big-seeded bedstraw, is a plant species in the Rubiaceae. It is native to the Alps in Central Europe.
Media related to Galium boreale at Wikimedia Commons