Galium verum

Last updated

Galium verum
Galium verum01.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. verum
Binomial name
Galium verum
L.
Yellow bedstraw (Sanziana galbena) from the spontaneous flora of the Transylvanian Plateau CublesuSJ2012 (91).JPG
Yellow bedstraw (Sânziana galbenă) from the spontaneous flora of the Transylvanian Plateau

Galium verum (lady's bedstraw [1] or yellow bedstraw) 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. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Galium verum is an upright plant, with stiff stems growing to 15–120 centimetres (5.9–47.2 in) tall. The leaves are 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in) long and 2 millimetres (0.079 in) broad, shiny dark green, hairy underneath, borne in whorls of 8–12. The flowers are 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) in diameter, yellow, and produced in dense clusters. This species is sometimes confused with Galium odoratum , a species with traditional culinary uses. [5]

Uses

In medieval Europe, the dried plants were used to stuff mattresses, [6] as the coumarin scent of the plants acts as a flea repellant. The flowers were also used to coagulate milk in cheese manufacture (which gives the plant its name, from the Greek word γάλα, gala 'milk') and, in Gloucestershire, to colour the cheese double Gloucester. [7] The plant is also used to make red madder-like and yellow dyes. In Denmark, the plant (known locally as gul snerre) is traditionally used to infuse spirits, making the uniquely Danish drink bjæsk  [ da ].

Mythology

Frigg was the goddess of married women, in Norse mythology. She helped women give birth to children, and as Scandinavians used the plant lady's bedstraw (Galium verum) as a sedative, they called it Frigg's grass. [8]

In Romanian folklore, it is called sânziana and it is linked to the Sânziene fairies and their festival on June 24.[ citation needed ]

In Gaelic mythology, the hero Cú Chulainn, who suffered fits of rage during battle, would take a tea of this plant to calm his frenzy.[ citation needed ] The plant is known as lus chneas Chù-Chulainn 'the herb of Cú Chulainn's skin' in Scottish Gaelic, [9] and in the 14th/15th centuries it occurred with the Irish name Bolad cneise con Culainn ‘the smell of Cú Chulainn’s skin’ (NLI G 11 182b2). [10]

In Serbian folklore Ivanjski venci (Midsummer wreaths) are made out of Galium verum the day ahead of Nativity of John the Baptist celebration. [11] [12] Galium verum, decorated with other flowers, symbolize the beauty of nature and are placed at the public roadside front gates because they are believed to protect Christian homes. [11]

Subspecies

Many varietal and subspecific names have been proposed, but only four are currently (May 2014) recognized: [2]

Related Research Articles

<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.

Traditional dyes of the Scottish Highlands are the native vegetable dyes used in Scottish Gaeldom.

<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 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 glaucum</i> Species of plant

Galium glaucum or waxy bedstraw is a plant species of the Rubiaceae. It is native to central Europe from Portugal to Ukraine, and sparingly naturalized in a few locations in North America.

<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.

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

Galium spurium, the stickwilly or false cleavers, is a plant species of the Rubiaceae. It is widespread across Europe, Asia, Africa and Canada, and is naturalized in Australia. It is considered a noxious weed in many places.

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

<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 californicum</i> Species of flowering plant

Galium californicum is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the common name California bedstraw.

<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 serpenticum</i> Species of plant

Galium serpenticum is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family (Rubiaceae) known by the common name intermountain bedstraw or many-flowered bedstraw.

<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.

<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.

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 magellense, Maiella bedstraw, is a plant species of the Rubiaceae. It is named for the Maiella mountains of central Italy, with the range extending from the Maiellas south along the Apennines to Calabria.

<i>Thesium humifusum</i> Genus of flowering plant in the mistletoe family Santalaceae

Thesium humifusum is a species of hemiparasitic flowering plant in the family Santalaceae found in western Europe and north-western Africa, known as bastard-toadflax.

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. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. ↑ Biota of North America Program
  4. ↑ Altervista Flora Italiana
  5. ↑ Flora of China, v 19 p 139, 蓬子菜 peng zi cai, Galium verum
  6. ↑ Niering, William A.; Olmstead, Nancy C. (1985) [1979]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region. Knopf. p. 764. ISBN   0-394-50432-1.
  7. ↑ Howard, Michael A. (1987). Traditional Folk Remedies: A Comprehensive Herbal. Random House of Canada. pp. 163–. ISBN   0-7126-1731-0.
  8. ↑ Schön, Ebbe (2004). Asa-Tors Hammare: Gudar och Jättar i Tro och Tradition. Värnamo: Fält & Hässler. pp. 228–. ISBN   91-89660-41-2.
  9. ↑ "lus chneas Chù-Chulainn". Am Faclair Beag. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Dublin, National Library of Ireland, MS G 11".
  11. 1 2 Slavko Bubalo (7 July 2023). "Tradiciju pletenja ivanjdanskih venaca prenose na mlade". Srbi.hr, Joint Council of Municipalities . Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  12. ↑ Senka Lučić (4 July 2007). "Ivanjski venci, "moravci" i maske "kod vrapca"". Politika . Retrieved 13 July 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.