Galium odoratum(L.) Scop. Sweet-scented Bedstraw

Galium odoratum(L.) Scop. - Sweet-scented Bedstraw

Scientific Description:

Rhizome creeping. Stems (15−)20−30(−35) cm, erect to ascending, more often unbranched, glabrous except for a ring of hairs at nodes. Leaves 20−50 × 5−12(−14) mm, broadest in middle or in upper 1/3. Inflorescence terminal, composed of 3 long pedunculate dichasial cymes; pedicels 1−6 mm in flower, to 10(−11) mm in fruit; uppermost bracts reduced. Corolla infundibular, 4−8 mm diam.; tube c. 1.5−2 mm, lobes 2−3.5 mm, subacute. Fruit (excl. setae) 2−3 mm diam., setae to 1 mm.

 

Flowering time: May−July.

Habitat: Base-rich deciduous woods, 600−2400 m.

 

Reference:

Ehrendorfer F & Schönbeck-Temesy E (1982). Galium odoratum (L.) Scop., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 7: 781−782.

Public Description:

Galium odoratum, known as “sweet-scented bedstraw” or “sweet woodruff”, is native to much of Europe from Spain and Ireland to Russia, as well as Türkiye, Iran, the Caucasusi Western Siberia, China and Japan. It is a perennial herb with white flowers, and grows up 35 cm in length. It blooms between May and July and is found in base-rich deciduous woods. As the epithet “odoratum” suggests, the plant is strongly scented, the sweet scent being derived from “coumarin”. For this reason, it is used as an aromatizing substance, especially in Germany. This scent increases on wilting and then persists on drying, and the dried plant is used in potpourri and as a moth deterrent.

 

References:

Anonymous 1 (2017). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galium_odoratum, Accessed date: 22.03.2017.

Anonymous 2 (2017). https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/search/?q=Galium+odoratum+, Accessed date: 22.03.2017.

Karabacak E (2012) Galium L., In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 821–831.