Galium

Not to be confused with the chemical element gallium.

Galium
Flowers of Galium aparine
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Rubioideae
Tribe: Rubieae
Genus: Galium
L.
Diversity
c. 650, see text

Galium is a large genus of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Rubiaceae, occurring in the temperate zones of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Some species are informally known as bedstraw.[1]

There are over 600 species of Galium,[2] with estimates of 629[3] to 650[4] as of 2013. The field madder, Sherardia arvensis, is a close relative and may be confused with a tiny bedstraw. Asperula is also a closely related genus; some species of Galium (such as woodruff, G. odoratum) are occasionally placed therein.

  1. ^ Galium. USDA PLANTS.
  2. ^ Galium. Flora of China.
  3. ^ "WCSP". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
  4. ^ Galium. The Jepson eFlora 2013.