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Photographer: Gary Fewless
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Family Rubiaceae
Galium tinctorium L.
southern three-lobed bedstraw, stiff bedstraw
Galium: from Greek word gala, "milk," and alluding to the fact that certain species were used to curdle milk
tinctorium: used in dyeing, usually referring to a plant that, when broken, exudes some kind of stain
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| Status: | Native |
| Plant: | erect to sprawling, perennial forb, with many stems and branches scrambling over other vegetation; stems nodes not obviously bearded |
| Flower: | whitish, tiny, 3-parted, lobes as wide or wider than long, stalks less than 1/4"; many clusters of usually 1-3 flowers both terminal and from the leaf axils; blooms June-Aug. |
| Fruit: | smooth |
| Leaf: | whorls of 4-6 usually with some having at least 5, mostly linear with a blunt tip |
| Habitat: | moist to wet; wetlands; in alkaline soil |
| (Glossary) |
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