|
| Galium andrewsii |
| Family: Rubiaceae (Madder) |
| Flowers — color: yellow-green, size: 1/8", type: 4 petals |
Phlox-Leaved Bedstraw flowers have four yellow to yellow-green flowers about 1/8" wide. Each petal comes gracefully to a point. Plants are either male or female, so produce flowers having only stamens or a pistil. Female flowers are solitary, but male flowers form clusters. This Bedstraw exhibiits variabilty: the flowers are are often sparse and inconspicuous, but occasioanally appear in profusion.
Habit:
Phlox-Leaved Bedstraw is a spreading perennial herb. It grows in the understory of oak woodlands or openings in the maritme chaparral. It tends to form clumps or mats several inches high, but specimens may grow taller.
Very green needle-like leaves grow around branching stems, much denser than the bottle brush-like prickly phlox. Like the phlox, these needles are prickly. I got down on my hands to knees for closer inspection. I had placed my hand on a dead plant and got a dozen brown needles in my finger for my trouble. My finger was irritated for a while, so these spines may engage in chemical warfare.
Common Bedstraw and Graceful Bedstraw have distinct, longer stems and several larger leaves in a whorl, radiating circularly, and both grow erect.