Index / Search / Galium boreale

§1 Plant — species · Rubiaceae

Galium boreale L.

vernacular northern bedstraw


USDA
GABO2
GBIF
2914338
Rank
species
northern bedstraw (Galium boreale)
Platephotograph · Елена ШубницинаCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb, Subshrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Rubiaceae Juss.
Genus
Galium
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Native
  • CAN Canada Native
  • GL Greenland Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-33 °F minimum
Frost-free days
85 min.
Precipitation
20–55 in/yr
pH range
5–7.2
Root depth
6 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
3 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
725,760
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Contracting Only
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 51 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/GABO2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2914338 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z