Galium mollugo

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Hedge bedstraw
Rubiaceae - Galium mollugo.JPG
Galium mollugo Flower Photo.png
Close up image of the Galium mollugo flower under a dissecting microscope
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. mollugo
Binomial name
Galium mollugo
L.
Synonyms
  • Galium erectumHuds.
  • Galium mollugo subsp. erectum(Huds.) Briq.
  • Galium mollugo var. erectum(Huds.) Domin
  • Rubia mollugo(L.) Baillon

Galium mollugo, common name hedge bedstraw [1] 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 .

Contents

Description

Galium mollugo can reach a height of 15–100 cm (5.9–39.4 in). The stems are square in cross-section, more or less erect with ascending branches. Starting from the axils of leaves it has inflorescences of small white flowers with a diameter of about 1 to 1.5 cm, with four petals. The flowering period extends from May to September. [2] [3]

Habitat

Galium mollugo commonly occurs in hedges, bushes, paths, meadows and slopes at an elevation up to 2,100 m (6,900 ft) above sea level.

Distribution

Galium mollugo is widely distributed in Europe and North Africa from Denmark, Portugal and Morocco east to the Altay region of Siberia and to the Caucasus. It is naturalized in the Russian Far East, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Greenland, Argentina, Uruguay, and much of North America. It has been reported from the Rocky Mountains, the Cascade Range, the Sierra Nevadas and the Appalachian Mountains as well as the Great Lakes region. It is classified as a noxious weed in New York, Pennsylvania and much of New England. [4] [5] [6]

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, the Middle East and Indian subcontinent, 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 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 saxatile</i> Species of plant

Galium saxatile or heath bedstraw is a plant species of the genus Galium. It is related to cleavers.

Galium sterneri or limestone bedstraw is a plant species of the Rubiaceae. It is native to northern Europe.

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

Galium divaricatum is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the common name Lamarck's bedstraw.

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

Galium multiflorum is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the common names Kellogg's bedstraw, shrubby bedstraw, and many-flowered bedstraw. It is a perennial herb that grows on rocky soils, mountains, and desert slopes.

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

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.

<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, goosegrass and sticky willy, is an annual, herbaceous plant of the family Rubiaceae.

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

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.

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

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 sparsiflorum is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the common name Sequoia bedstraw. It is endemic to California, where it grows in shaded habitat in certain mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada.

<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 concinnum</i> Species of plant

Galium concinnum, known as the shining bedstraw, is a herbaceous perennial plant species in the Rubiaceae family. 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. 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.

Galium jepsonii, with the common name Jepson's bedstraw, is a rare flowering plant species in the Rubiaceae — Madder family.

References

  1. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. Hickman, J. C. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California 1–1400. University of California Press, Berkeley.
  3. 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.
  4. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  5. Biota of North America Program
  6. Altervista Flora Italiana