Galium sylvaticum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Gentianales |
Family: | Rubiaceae |
Genus: | Galium |
Species: | G. sylvaticum
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Binomial name | |
Galium sylvaticum |
Galium sylvaticum, commonly known as Scotch mist or wood bedstraw, is a plant species of the genus Rubiaceae. Its genus name, Galium, is derived from the Greek word for "milk," apparently because some species have been used to curdle milk.[1]
It is native to central Europe: France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungary,[2] the former Yugoslavia and smaller countries in between.[3][4] It is also naturalized in scattered locations in North America (Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Ontario, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Washington and Oregon).[5] It is often found in anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed) habitats, forest edges, meadows and fields.[1]
It is a perennial, branching herb with thin stems. Its leaves are in whorls of six, each narrowly linear. Flowers are in open terminal panicles, white and four-petaled.[4]