Shining bedstraw
Galium lucidum
Family · Rubiaceae · Harmless
The cloud of small white flowers covering limestone banks and stone walls in summer, over narrow glossy leaves in whorls. It is the same design as lady's bedstraw, in another colour.
Walls and rocks · Scrubland · Uplands · Roadsides and waste ground
Also known asglossy bedstraw
How to tell it
Narrow pointed leaves, stiff and glossy above, in whorls of six to ten. A loose panicle of tiny white four-petalled flowers. A four-angled stem, smooth and often reddish at the base.
What it is confused with
Lady's bedstraw
Galium verum
White flower here, yellow and honey-scented on lady's bedstraw. Neither is dangerous.
What it is for
No relevant use
It is worth it as company to lady's bedstraw, and to grasp that the family is recognised by its four-angled stem and whorled leaves long before you know the species.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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