Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Ontario Weeds: Smooth bedstraw

Table of Contents

1. Name
2. Other Names
3. Family
4. General Description
   • Photos and Pictures
5. Stems and Roots
6. Flowers and Fruit
7. Habitat
8. Similar Species
9. Related Links

Name: Smooth bedstraw, Galium mollugo L.,

Other Names: gaillet mollugine, gaillet

Family: Madder Family (Rubiaceae)

General Description: Perennial, reproducing by seed and by spreading underground rhizomes.

Photos and Pictures

Smooth bedstraw (A - mass of flowering stems; B - portion of a stem showing whorls of leaves and tiny 4-petalled flowers).

Stems & Roots: Stems slender, soft, smooth, much-branched, at first erect but soon matted or spreading over nearby vegetation; leaves in whorls of 6 to 8 per node, narrowly oblong or wider towards the end, 1-3cm (2/5-1¼in.) long, bright green.

Flowers & Fruit: Flowers in loosely branching clusters at the ends of stems and on short branches throughout the plant; each flower with 4 tiny white petals, 2-4mm (1/12-1/6in.) across, sitting on top of a small spherical ovary which develops into the fruit ("seed"). Flowers from June to August.

Habitat: Smooth bedstraw occurs throughout Ontario in pastures, meadows, river flats, roadsides and occasionally in lawns and gardens. There are several other kinds of perennial white-flowered bedstraws in Ontario but they are rarely considered weedy.

Similar Species: It is distinguished by having usually 6 or 8 leaves per node on the smooth stems and branches.

Related Links

... on general Weed topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control

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