Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Galium gaudichaudii
Common name
Rough bedstraw
Family
Rubiaceae
Where found
Forest, woodland, grassland, and rock crevices. Widespread.
subsp. gaudicaudii: Widespread. Uncommon on the coast and ranges.
subsp. parviflorum: Ranges south of the Snowy Mountains Highway. ACT. Mostly in Victoria.
Notes
Perennial herb to 0.4 m high or prostrate. Stems 4-angled, rough with tiny backward-pointing prickles or almost hairless. Leaves and leaf-like stipules in whorls of 4, 0.1–1.2 cm long, 0.8–1.3 mm wide, tips more or less pointed, upper surface with scattered hairs, lower surface with hairs more or less confined to the margins and midvein. Flowers white to cream or greenish-yellow, purplish in bud, to 1.5 mm long, with 4 petals fused together near their bases, in clusters of mostly 1–7 flowers. Flowers winter–early summer. 'Seeds' 1–2 mm long, finely wrinkled to smooth.
subsp. gaudichaudii: Flowers 1.8–3.8 mm in diameter, with petals 0.8–1.8 mm long.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
subsp. parviflorum: Flowers 1–1.8 mm in diameter, with petals 0.5–0.8 mm long
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
PlantNET description of species and key to subspecies: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Galium~gaudichaudii (accessed 22 January, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
