Yellow bedstraw (Galium verum)
Common Names: Lady's bedstrawDescription:
Habit: Short to medium and often sprawling grassland perennial.
Leaves: Whorled groups of 8-12, very narrow, 1/2 in. to 1.5 in. long, 1/8 in. wide, variously covered in short hairs, sharply pointed at tip, leaf edges slightly rolled, upper surface glossy.
Stems: 4 sided with rounded angles, covered in short hairs to varying degrees, rarely hairless.
Flowers: Many branching clusters, borne from leaf axils, 1/8 in. across, yellow in color, 4 petals but occasionally 3-5, longer than wide, pointed or blunt at tips, 4 yellow stamens.
Fruit and seeds: Ovoid, 1-1.5 mm. long.
Habitat: Native to Europe and the Middle East. Can be found in disturbed sites such as fields, meadows, roadsides, and railroads.
Reproduction: By seed and vegetatively via creeping rhizomes.
Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from Minnesota Wildflowers and Michigan Flora.
Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org). Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).