Galium verum

Galium verum (Information about this image)

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Gentianales

Familia: Rubiaceae
Subfamilia: Rubioideae
Tribus: Rubieae
Genus: Galium
Species: Galium verum
Subspecies: G. v. subsp. asiaticum – G. v. subsp. glabrescens – G. v. subsp. verum – G. v. subsp. wirtgenii
Varietas: G. v. var. haliaense
Name

Galium verum L., Sp. Pl.: 1: 107. 1753.
Hybrids

G. × pomeranicum
References

Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Plantarum. Tomus I: 107. Reference page.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Galium verum in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Vernacular names
العربية: جويسئة خضراء
azərbaycanca: Əsl qatıqotu
català: Quallallet
čeština: Svízel syřišťový
Cymraeg: Briwydd felen
dansk: Gul snerre
Deutsch: Echtes Labkraut
English: Lady's Bedstraw
español: Cuajaleche
eesti: Hobumadar
euskara: Ziabelar hori
فارسی: شیرپنیر
suomi: Keltamatara
français: Caille-lait jaune
Gaeilge: Boladh cnis
galego: Agana
hrvatski: Ivanjsko cvijeće
hornjoserbsce: Žołty sydrik
magyar: Tejoltó galaj
հայերեն: Մակարդախոտ իսկական
íslenska: Gulmaðra
italiano: Caglio zolfino
日本語: キバナカワラマツバ
ქართული: მინდვრისნემსა
한국어: 솔나물
lietuvių: Tikrasis lipikas
മലയാളം: ഗാലിയം വെരം
Nederlands: Geel walstro
norsk nynorsk: Gulmaure
norsk: Gulmaure
polski: Przytulia właściwa
română: Sânziană
русский: Подмаренник настоящий
srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски: Ivanjsko cvijeće
slovenčina: Lipkavec pravý
slovenščina: Prava lakota
српски / srpski: Ивањско цвеће
svenska: Gulmåra
українська: Підмаренник справжній
中文: 蓬子菜

Galium verum (lady's bedstraw[1] or yellow bedstraw) is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Rubiaceae. It is widespread across most of Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia from Palestine, Lebanon and Turkey to Japan and Kamchatka. It is naturalized in Tasmania, New Zealand, Canada, and the northern half of the United States. It is considered a noxious weed in some places.[2][3][4]

Galium verum 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.[5]

Uses

In medieval Europe, the dried plants were used to stuff mattresses,[6] as the coumarin scent of the plants acts as a flea repellant. The flowers were also used to coagulate milk in cheese manufacture (which gives the plant its name, from the Greek word γάλα, gala 'milk') and, in Gloucestershire, to colour the cheese double Gloucester.[7] 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 [da].
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.[8]

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

In Gaelic mythology, the hero Cú Chulainn, who suffered fits of rage during battle, would take a tea of this plant to calm his frenzy. The plant is known as lus chneas Chù-Chulainn 'the herb of Cú Chulainn's skin' in Scottish Gaelic,[9] and in the 14th/15th centuries it occurred with the Irish name Bolad cneise con Culainn ‘the smell of Cú Chulainn’s skin’ (NLI G 11 182b2).[10]
Subspecies

Many varietal and subspecific names have been proposed, but only four are currently (May 2014) recognized:[2]

Galium verum subsp. asiaticum (Nakai) T.Yamaz - China, Korea, Japan, Russian Far East (Primorye)
Galium verum subsp. glabrescens Ehrend. - Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria
Galium verum subsp. verum - most of species range
Galium verum subsp. wirtgenii (F.W.Schultz) Oborny - Central and eastern Europe plus Western Siberia

Gallery

Seedling