Galium concinnum

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Shining bedstraw
Galium concinnum - Shining Bedstraw (cropped).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Genus: Galium
Species:
G. concinnum
Binomial name
Galium concinnum

Galium concinnum, the shining bedstraw, is a herbaceous perennial plant species in the Rubiaceae family. [1] It is native to the Midwestern United States and central Canada, especially the Great Lakes Region and the Valleys of the Ohio, lower Missouri, and upper Mississippi Rivers. [2] It is commonly found in deciduous forests and forest edges. It grows low to the ground in natural habitats. Although it is not an invasive species, it can be very weedy. It is typically not cultivated.

Contents

Description

Galium concinnum is a herbaceous perennial plant that trails low to the ground and has a delicate appearance. The plant is short, ranging from 15-63cm in height.The stems are thin and fragile, have nearly microscopic (0.05-0.1mm) hairs, [3] and typically branch once at a node. The leaves are small, long, and slender typically 2-3mm wide and ~1-2cm long. [3] [4] [5] The leaves appear in groups of 6 as whorls surrounding each stem node. At some branching nodes there are only 4 leaves to a node. [5] The inflorescences are compound cyme, branching 2-3 times. [3] [4] Flowers are usually at the terminal ends of the inflorescence branches and are small (2-3mm wide [3] [4] ), white, and have 4 petals. [1] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] The fruits are smooth, round, small (1-5-2.3mm) [4] and come in pairs. [4] [5]  

Habitat

Galium concinnum is native to the Midwestern United States and the Canadian province of Ontario. [8] It is found in a wide range of habitats including mesic soils near lakes, rivers, and woodland edges. [9] It can also be found in deciduous upland forests, bluffs, and even sandy or rocky woodlands. [9]

Etymology

Galium means milk; it is Dioscorides’ name. [10] Concinnum means 'well proportioned' or 'symmetrical'. [10]

History

There are not many short-term trends connected to Gallium concinnum because there have not been enough populations researched to have good findings. There are three historical locations where it can be found, but one of these locations has been destroyed completely. There are also some long-term trends. For example, it has been common to New York for four decades, but there is little information on its condition, size, and threats. [4]

Uses

Galium concinnum (shinning bedstraw) was mostly used for stuffing beds. It was also a treatment for skin conditions. It was ground up into a powder to help inflammation and speed up the healing process of skin wounds. It also helps urinary tract problems. It does this by helping clean out the urinary tract.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<i>Galium</i> Genus of plants

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.

<i>Galium odoratum</i> Species of plant

Galium odoratum, the sweet woodruff or sweetscented bedstraw, is a flowering perennial plant in the family Rubiaceae, native to much of Europe from Spain and Ireland to Russia, as well as Western Siberia, Turkey, Iran, the Caucasus, China and Japan. It is also sparingly naturalised in scattered locations in the United States and Canada. It is widely cultivated for its flowers and its sweet-smelling foliage.

<i>Galium verum</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Galium triflorum</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Galium album</i> Species of plant

Galium album, the white bedstraw or hedge bedstraw, is a herbaceous annual plant of the family Rubiaceae.

<i>Galium mollugo</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Asarum canadense</i> Species of flowering plant

Asarum canadense, commonly known as Canada wild ginger, Canadian snakeroot, and broad-leaved asarabacca, is a herbaceous, perennial plant which forms dense colonies in the understory of deciduous forests throughout its native range in eastern North America, from the Great Plains east to the Atlantic Coast, and from southeastern Canada south to around the Fall Line in the southeastern United States.

<i>Galium palustre</i> Species of plant

Galium palustre, the common marsh bedstraw or simply marsh-bedstraw, is a herbaceous annual plant of the family Rubiaceae. This plant is widely distributed, native to virtually every country in Europe, plus Morocco, the Azores, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Western Siberia, Greenland, eastern Canada, St. Pierre & Miquelon, and parts of the United States. The species is classified as a noxious weed in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire. It is considered naturalized in Kamchatka, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.

<i>Galium boreale</i> Species of flowering plant

Galium boreale or northern bedstraw 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.

<i>Galium sylvaticum</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Galium nuttallii</i> Species of plant

Galium nuttallii is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the common names San Diego bedstraw and climbing bedstraw. It is native to the coast and coastal Peninsular and western Transverse Ranges of southern California and Baja California, where it is a member of chaparral and pine woodland plant communities. It is also found on the Channel Islands and on the mainland as far north as Santa Barbara County

<i>Galium aparine</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

Galium hardhamiae is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family Rubiaceae, known by the common name Hardham's bedstraw. The scientific name may be misspelled Galium hardhamae. It is endemic to the Santa Lucia Range of southern Monterey County and northern San Luis Obispo County in California. It is a member of the serpentine soils flora in these coastal mountains. This is a perennial herb forming mats or clumps of stems no more than 30 centimeters long. The stems have many whorls of six fleshy green leaves, each leaf just 1 to 3 millimeters long. The inflorescences, clusters of yellow-green to pinkish flowers, appear in leaf axils.

<i>Galium trifidum</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Galium antarcticum</i> Species of plant

Galium antarcticum, commonly known as Antarctic bedstraw or subantarctic bedstraw, is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family. It has a largely subantarctic range.

<i>Galium anisophyllon</i> Species of plant

Galium anisophyllon, common name bedstraw or gaillet, is a flowering perennial plant in the family Rubiaceae.

<i>Galium asprellum</i> Species of plant

Galium asprellum, the rough bedstraw, is a plant species in the family Rubiaceae. It native to eastern Canada and northeastern United States, from North Carolina and Tennessee north to Minnesota, Ontario and Newfoundland. It is considered a noxious weed in New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont, and is abundantly common in the other New England states and in sections of the Great Lakes region. It is a perennial herb. Leaves are simple with three or more leaves per node. Flowers have four petals and are white in color.

<i>Galium lanceolatum</i> Species of plant

Galium lanceolatum, commonly known as lanceleaf wild licorice or Torrey's wild licorice, is a species of flowering plant native to the eastern temperate regions of North America. The name 'wild licorice' comes from the species' taste, similar to that of true licorice.

<i>Galium obtusum</i> Species of flowering plant

Galium obtusum, the bluntleaf bedstraw, is a herbaceous plant species in the family Rubiaceae. Bluntleaf bedstraw is a wildflower native to eastern North America.

<i>Galium tinctorium</i> Species of plant

Galium tinctorium, the stiff marsh bedstraw, is a species of plants in the Rubiaceae. It is widespread and common across the eastern part of North America, from Texas to Labrador and from Minnesota to Florida, plus eastern and central Mexico and the Dominican Republic. It is classed as a noxious weed in some parts of the northeastern United States.

References

  1. 1 2 Torrey, John & Asa Gray. 1841. Flora of North America 2(1): 23
  2. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Galium concinnum
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Lawson, Cheryl A. (1973). "The Genus Galium (Rubiaceae) in Oklahoma". The Southwestern Naturalist. 18 (1): 12. doi:10.2307/3669910. ISSN   0038-4909.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Shining Bedstraw Guide - New York Natural Heritage Program". guides.nynhp.org. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Galium concinnum (Shining Bedstraw): Minnesota Wildflowers". www.minnesotawildflowers.info. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  6. Gleason, H. A. & A.J. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (ed. 2) i–910. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx.
  7. Great Plains Flora Association. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains i–vii, 1–1392. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence.
  8. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  9. 1 2 "Shining Bedstraw (Galium concinnum)". www.illinoiswildflowers.info. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  10. 1 2 Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521866453 (hardback), ISBN 9780521685535 (paperback). pp 117, 174