Galium verum

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Galium verum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Genus: Galium
Species: G. verum
Binomial name
Galium verum
L.
Yellow bedstraw (Sânziana galbenă) from the spontaneous flora of the Transylvanian Plateau

Galium verum (Lady's Bedstraw or Yellow Bedstraw) is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Rubiaceae, native to Europe and Asia. It is a low scrambling plant, with the stems growing to 60–120 centimetres (24–47 in) long, frequently rooting where they touch the ground. The leaves are 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in) long and 2 millimetres (0.079 in) broad, shiny dark green, hairy underneath, borne in whorls of 8–12. The flowers are 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) in diameter, yellow, and produced in dense clusters. This species is sometimes confused with Galium odoratum, a species with traditional culinary uses.

Uses

In the past the dried plants were used to stuff mattresses, as the coumarin scent of the plants acts as a flea killer. The flowers were also used to coagulate milk in cheese manufacture and, in Gloucestershire, to colour the cheese Double Gloucester.[1] The plant is also used to make red madder-like and yellow dyes. In Denmark, the plant (known locally as gul snerre) is traditionally used to infuse spirits, making the uniquely Danish drink bjæsk.

Mythology

Frigg was the goddess of married women, in Norse mythology. She helped women give birth to children, and as Scandinavians used the plant Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum) as a sedative, they called it Frigg's grass.[2]

In Romanian folklore, it is called sânziana and it is linked to the Sânziene fairies and their festival on June 24th.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Howard, Michael A. (1987). Traditional Folk Remedies: A Comprehensive Herbal. Random House of Canada. pp. 163–. ISBN 0-7126-1731-0. 
  2. ↑ Schön, Ebbe (2004). Asa-Tors Hammare: Gudar och Jättar i Tro och Tradition. Värnamo: Fält & Hässler. pp. 228–. ISBN 91-89660-41-2. 

External links

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