Bedstraw

Bedstraw — Galium is a large genus of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Rubiaceae, with about 400 species occurring in the temperate zones of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Most species are known as bedstraw.

The Field Madder (Sherardia arvensis) is a close relative and may be confused with a tiny bedstraw. Asperula ise also a close relative; some species of Galium (such as woodruff) are occasionally placed therein.

Bedstraw, Galium, is a slender herb in the madder family, Rubiaceae. Bedstraw plants produce stalkless leaves in whorls and abundant clusters of tiny white or yellow flowers. Once used in making mattresses, today bedstraw is grown mainly in rock gardens, where it produces a light airy effect. One of the best-known species in the United States is Galium mollugo, also known as wild madder, great or white bedstraw, or false-baby’s-breath. Yellow bedstraw, Galium verum, sometimes appears as a weed in the eastern United States.

Bedstraws are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species.