bedstraws

genus Galium

Member of madder family (family Rubiaceae)
dicots (class Magnoliopsida)
flowering plants (subphylum Angiospermae)

Except for old historical records and extremely rare examples that I don't expect to encounter, there are no other wild species of this genus in the bay area.

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See also field madder (Sherardia arvensis).

Key features:

• number of petals per flower
• number of leafs per whorl, leaf length
• habit (e.g. prostrate, climbing, or erect)
• stem length

Sorted by number of leaves in a whorl (high to low).

hedge bedstraw
Galium mollugo

• habit: perennial herb, erect, glabrous to hairy
• stem: 30–120 cm, stout, ± swollen at nodes
• leaf: generally whorls of 8, oblanceolate to obovate, tip abruptly soft-pointed
• inflorescence: panicle, many-flowered
• flower: bisexual; corolla rotate, white; stamens exserted
• Monte Bello and Palo Alto Baylands

corn cleavers
Galium tricornutum

• habit: annual, sprawling to trailing, dense in flower, open in fruit
• stem: 10–35 cm, stout, ± glabrous
• leaf: in whorls of 6–8, 12–19 mm, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, margin short-recurved-prickly, thickened
• inflorescence: clusters, axillary, flowers few, peduncle < leaf, pedicel recurved
• flower: bisexual; corolla rotate, white
• Briones

lamarck’s bedstraw
Galium divaricatum

• habit: annual, erect, spreading, < 30 cm, glabrous to short-hairy
• stem: slender
• leaf: in whorls of 5–8, generally weak-reflexed, < 7 mm, lanceolate to oblanceolate
• inflorescence: panicle, terminal, open
• flower: bisexual; corolla white, lobes ± erect
• Nisene Marks and Mt. Tam

wall bedstraw
Galium parisiense

• habit: annual, erect, 15–68 cm, scabrous
• stem: slender
• leaf: in whorls of 6, 4–9 mm, lanceolate to oblanceolate, generally reflexed in age
• inflorescence: panicle, open, few-flowered, pedicels thread-like
• flower: bisexual; corolla basally rotate, ± white to ± purple, lobes erect, glabrous to sparsely hairy
• scattered

three-petal bedstraw
Galium trifidum ssp. columbianum

• habit: perennial herb (annual), sprawling, minutely scabrous
• stem: 10–50 cm, slender, weak, tangled
• leaf: in whorls of 4–6, 4–19 mm, linear to elliptic or oblong; tip rounded; petioled
• inflorescence: several-flowered clusters, pedicels slender
• flower: bisexual; corolla generally 3-lobed, rotate, white to ± pink, glabrous
• [all others generally have 4 corolla lobes]
• rare near Pacific coast

phlox-leaved bedstraw
Galium andrewsii

• habit: perennial herb, generally low, open [not climbing?], generally cushion-like, green to silvery, occasionally hairy; main stem obvious; dioecious
• stem: 5–22 cm
• leaf: in whorls of 4, 4–11 mm, sharp to touch, ± thick, tip with persistent hair
• staminate inflorescence: few-flowered clusters
• pistillate inflorescence: flowers 1 in axils
• flower: corolla rotate, ± yellow, glabrous
• scattered in south and east bay

san diego bedstraw
Galium nuttallii

• habit: perennial herb, climbing, woody, plant densely tangled, dark red in age; dioecious
• stem: 6–15 dm, slender
• leaf: in whorls of 4, 3–8 mm, linear to narrowly ovate, generally leathery, tip acute, sharp to touch with stout, persistent hair
• staminate inflorescence: axillary clusters
• pistillate inflorescence: flower 1 in axils
• flower: corolla rotate, generally ± red
• rare

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5 observed taxons / 8 unobserved taxons / 2 keys

Chris’s observations: 112 (47 are research grade)

Locations:

• Henry Coe SP: 14
• Calero CP: 7
• Edgewood Park & Natural Preserve: 7
• Russian Ridge OSP: 7
• Santa Teresa CP: 7
• Stevens Creek CP: 7
• Mt. Madonna SP: 5
• Alum Rock Park, San Jose: 4
• Castle Rock SP: 4
• Coyote Lake / Harvey Bear Ranch CP: 4
• Nisene Marks SP: 4
• Rancho Cañada del Oro OSP: 4
• Sierra Azul OSP: 4
• Almaden Quicksilver CP: 3
• Purisima Creek Redwoods OSP: 3
• Fremont Older OSP: 2
• Hidden Villa, Los Altos Hills: 2
• Pescadero Creek CP: 2
• Picchetti Ranch OSP: 2
• Portola Redwoods SP: 2
• Waterdog Lake & Open Space: 2
• Bear Creek Redwoods OSP
• Big Basin SP
• Butano SP
• Coal Creek OSP
• Coyote Creek Trail
• El Corte de Madera OSP
• Jacks Peak CP
• Long Ridge OSP
• Monte Bello OSP
• Murray Ranch SP
• Sanborn CP
• Sierra Vista OSP
• Skyline Ridge OSP
• Sunol Wilderness RP
• Wilder Ranch SP
• Windy Hill OSP

Months:

• Jan.: 2
• Feb.: 4
• Mar.: 15
• Apr.: 27
• May: 33
• Jun.: 13
• Jul.: 10
• Aug.: 2
• Sep.: 1
• Oct.: 1
• Nov.: 1
• Dec.: 3

For more details, use advanced search.

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Not all sites include this taxon:

• genus Galium → iNaturalist – Calflora – Jepson eFlora
• not yet listed → FNA

Bay Area species: iNaturalist – Calflora