Ivydene Gardens Adder's Tongue to Borage Wild Flower Families Gallery:
Bedstraw Family

Click on Underlined Text in:-

Common Name to view that Plant Description Page
Botanical Name to link to Plant or Seed Supplier
Flowering Months to view photos
Habitat to view further Natural Habitat details and Botanical Society of the British Isles Distribution Map

Bedstraw Family:-

The Bedstraw Family are "non-woody plants with weak, often scrambling, 4-angled stems; small unstalked lanceolate leaves and similar eaf-like stipules in whorls of 4-12; and clusters of small flowers, the corolla with normally 4 petal-like lobes. Only Field Madder has a calyx. Fruits 2-lobed nutlets, a berry in Wild Madder" from Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers by David McClintock and R.S.R. Fitter assisted by Francis Rose - ISBN 0 00 219363 9 - Eleventh Impression 1978

Bedstraw Family plant table with its Common Name - Botanical Name. Flowering Months Range. Habitat with link to that Wild Flower Habitat Gallery:-

Common Name

Botanical Name

Flowering Months

Habitat

Crosswort

(Smooth Bedstraw)

Galium cruciata

(Cruciata laevipes)

April-June

A perennial herb of deep, well-drained neutral or calcareous soils, typically occurring in ungrazed grassland, open scrub, hedge banks, woodland rides and edges, and on waysides. 0-550 m (Garrigill, Cumberland). Use as dye on clothing.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage from Millers Dale

Form in North Yorkshire

Fen Bedstraw

Galium uliginosum

June-August

A perennial herb of base-rich marshes and fens, usually in drier and more calcareous habitats than G. palustre, although the two may sometimes be found growing together. 0-750 m (Cross Fell, Cumberland).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Field Madder

Sherardia arvensis

May onwards

An annual of open, droughted grasslands, sheltered cliffs, sand dunes, arable fields, waste ground, waysides and verges. Mainly lowland, but reaching 365 m in Aberdeenshire.

Flower from Monks Dale on 21 May

Flowers from Rochester in Kent

Foliage from Millers Dale in Peak District

Form

Goosegrass

(Cleavers)

Galium aparine

May onwards

A scrambling annual of cultivated land, hedges, river banks, waysides, soil heaps and waste places, also growing in more natural habitats such as scree slopes and shingle. It inhabits both tall-herb and ruderal communities, thriving on highly fertile soil. Seed is dispersed by mammals. 0-440 m (Clun Forest, Salop).

Flower from Cuxton in Kent on 7 June

Flowers from Cuxton on 7 June

Foliage from Cuxton on 7 June

Form

Heath Bedstraw

Galium saxatile

June-August

A low-growing perennial herb of infertile acidic soils, occurring in grassland, on heaths, in rocky places and open woods, and locally on disturbed or derelict ground. 0-1215 m (Ben Lawers, Mid Perth).

Flower from North Yorkshire

Flowers from North Yorkshire

Foliage from North Yorkshire

Form from North Yorkshire

Hedge Bedstraw

Galium mollugo

July-August

A stoloniferous perennial herb of well-drained, calcareous or base-rich soils. Habitats include rough and permanent grassland, waysides, railway banks, roadsides, hedge banks, woodland edges, scrub and waste ground.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Lady's Bedstraw (Lady in a wildflower's name refers to the Virgin Mary)

Galium verum

July onwards

A stoloniferous perennial herb of well-drained, relatively infertile neutral or calcareous soils. Habitats include hay meadows, pastures, chalk and limestone downland, rock outcrops, quarries, coastal cliff-tops, dune grasslands and machair, roadsides and railway embankments. Procumbent plants (var. maritimum) occur widely in coastal habitats. 0-780 m (Coire na Gabhar, Mid Perth).

Flower

Flowers from Oxwich Burrows on 11 July

Foliage

Form

Marsh Bedstraw

(Slender Marsh Bedstraw)

Galium palustre

(Galium debile)

June-August

A perennial herb of seasonal or permanently wetland habitats, including wet meadows, marshes, fens, ditches, ponds and lakesides. It grows on a wide range of soil types, but has a preference for non-calcareous substrates. 0-825 m (Cross Fell, Cumberland).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Northern Bedstraw

Galium boreale

July-August

A perennial herb of damp, usually base-enriched substrates, occurring in rocky places, on mountain ledges and screes, in base-rich flushes in montane grassland, on river shingle and stony lake shores, and on stabilised sand dunes. 0-1065 m (Ben Lawers, Mid Perth).

Flower

Flowers from Heights of Kinlochewe on 23 June

Foliage from Kishorn on 28 June

Form from Heights of Kinlochewe on 23 June

Slender Bedstraw

Galium pumilum

June-July

A perennial herb of species-rich chalk and limestone grassland where the sward is kept short by grazing, mowing, exposure or disturbance, and on anthills. It also grows on limestone spoil-heaps. 0-375 m (near Pitlochry, E. Perth).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Small Goosegrass

(Corn Cleavers)

Galium tricorne

(Galium tricornutum)

May onwards

An annual of cereal fields and disturbed ground, chiefly on dry calcareous soils. Rarely, it can arise as a casual from the seed bank during earth-moving. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Squinancywort

Asperula cynanchica

June-September

A rhizomatous perennial herb of dry, calcareous grasslands and sand dunes. 0-305 m (Burren, Co. Clare).

Flower from Temple Ewell in Kent on 1 August

Flowers from Folkestone in Kent on 4 July

Foliage from Poulsallagh on 12 June

Form

Upright Hedge Bedstraw

(Hedge Bedstraw)

Galium erectum

(Gallium mollugo, Galium album)

June-September

A stoloniferous perennial herb of well-drained, calcareous or base-rich soils. Habitats include rough and permanent grassland, waysides, railway banks, roadsides, hedge banks, woodland edges, scrub and waste ground.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Wall Bedstraw

Galium parisiense

June-July

An annual of old walls and bare ground on calcareous or neutral substrates. It is intolerant of competition, and is susceptible to nutrient-enrichment. It may occasionally occur as a casual or short-term introduction well outside its normal range. Lowland.

Wild Madder

Rubia peregrina

June-August

A scrambling, evergreen perennial of hedge banks, scrub, walls, cliffs and other rocky places near the coast, or very locally on calcareous soils further inland. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage from Berry Head in Devon

Form from Berry Head in Devon

Woodruff

Galium odoratum

April-June

A rhizomatous perennial herb which grows in deciduous woodland, scrub and shaded hedge banks on base-rich or neutral, often damp, soils. This species is thought to be a good indicator of ancient woodlands in lowland England. 0-640 m (Atholl, E. Perth).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage from Detling on 22 May

Form from Detling in Kent on 22 May