Galium angustifolium

narrowleaf bedstraw
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Genus: Galium
Species: G. angustifolium
Binomial name
Galium angustifolium
Nutt. ex Gray

Galium angustifolium is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the common name narrowleaf bedstraw. It is native to California (including the Channel Islands) and Baja California, where it is most commonly found at low elevations in the mountains.[1][2]

Galium angustifolium is a stocky perennial herb or small shrub growing from a woody base and producing sprawling stems from a few centimeters to nearly a meter in length. Leaves grow in whorls of four about the stem at intervals, and the stem may branch at these points. The inflorescence is a panicle containing several flowers. The plant is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, similar in appearance with greenish-yellow flower parts. The fruit is a nutlet covered in long bristly white or yellowish hairs.[3][4]

Subspecies

Eight subspecies are currently recognized (May 2014):[2][5]

References

  1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. 2.0 2.1 Biota of North America Program
  3. Jepson Manual Treatment
  4. Gray, Asa. 1876. In Brewer, William Henry et al. Geological Survey of California, Botany 1: 285
  5. Dempster, Lauramay Tinsley & Stebbins, George Ledyard. 1971. Madroño 21(2): 88-94

External links