Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Galium leiocarpum
Common name
A bedstraw
Family
Rubiaceae
Where found
Forest, woodland, and grassland. Widespread. No records from the Western Slopes in the area covered by this key.
Notes
Perennial herb, prostrate to sprawling, often extensively rhizomatous. Stems mostly to 0.4 m long, 0.5 mm in diameter, with slender angles, sparsely hairy to hairless. Leaves and leaf-like stipules in whorls of 4, 0.2–1.5 cm long, 1–5 mm wide, upper surface usually with scattered flattened clear triangular prickles, lower surface hairless or with a few flattened clear triangular prickles along the midrib, margins flat or narrowly curved down; tips pointed. Flowers 1–1.5 mm in diameter, greenish or greenish cream, with 4 petals joined together near their bases, in clusters of 1–6 flowers. Flowering: spring–summer. 'Seeds' 0.8–1.2 mm long, sparsely hairy to hairless, not or hardly wrinkled, dark brown.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Galium~leiocarpum (accessed 17 January, 2021)
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