Galium labradoricum (Labrador Bedstraw) - photos and description

 


Leaves deflexed (bent downwards)

 


Ovary is glabrous - 2nd question in the key to genus Galium in Flora of Alberta

 

General: Weak stemmed plants with catchy edges to leaves, plants adhere to nearby grasses and shrubs. Stems square and glabrous.

Flowers: Small white flowers with 4 petals, flowers measured at 4 mm in diameter. Flowers 1 to 3, terminal.

Leaves: Leaves linear, in whorls of 4, larger leaves deflexed, leaves measured to a length of 14 mm long and 2 mm wide.

Height: Height listed in Flora of Alberta to 30 cm. I measured plants to a height of 25 cm.

Habitat: Forest marshes and bogs.

Abundance: Listed as fairly common in Checklist of Vascular Plants of Saskatchewan.

Origin: Native.

Synonym: Listed in some of the field guides we use as Galium trifidum.

When and where photographed: Photos taken July 4th marshy area on the edge of a forest bog, Duck Mountain Provincial Park, 300 km north east of our home in Regina, SK.