white bedstraw
Galium album
Its common name arises from the medieval practice of stuffing mattresses with the dried herb; its coumarin content releases a pleasant, flea-repelling scent of fresh hay.
- Scientific name
- Galium album
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Gentianales › Rubiaceae › Galium
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Dry grasslands, meadows, pastures, hedge banks, and roadsides.
- Diet
- Autotrophic (Photosynthesis)
- Range
- Europe, North Africa, Western Asia, North America
- Size
- Stems 30 to 100 cm in length, forming loose, scrambling clumps.
- Lifespan
- Perennial (typically 3-5 years, regenerating from rhizomes)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Intensive agricultural practices, herbicide application, and frequent mowing before seed dispersal.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. White bedstraw is entirely safe to touch and observe up close. If foraging, ensure the area has not been treated with chemical herbicides.
Galium album , the white bedstraw or hedge bedstraw , is a herbaceous annual plant of the family Rubiaceae.
Photo: Stefan.lefnaer, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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