Sweet-scented Bedstraw
Galium triflorum
Sweet-scented Bedstraw (Galium triflorum) is a native perennial with slender, often sprawling stems, leaves in whorls of six, and tiny greenish-white flowers, usually in threes. It grows in moist, shady woods and thickets, its range includes South Dakota and Wyoming, and it blooms May into August in neighboring Minnesota. Photographed in the Black Hills.
| Family | Rubiaceae · Madder |
|---|---|
| Status | Native perennial |
| Blooms | May into August |
| Height | 15–75 cm (6–30 in) |
| Where | Moist woods and thickets; part shade to shade |
| Also called | Fragrant Bedstraw, Sweet Bedstraw |
| Synonym | Galium brachiatum, Galium pennsylvanicum |
Roots, seeds & germination
Root: Rhizomes (underground stems), which also spread the plant.
Seed: A bristly two-part fruit with one small seed in each part. The hooked bristles cling to fur and clothing, which carries the seed.
How do you identify Sweet-scented Bedstraw?
Look for six leaves at each stem joint, broader than most bedstraws, widest near the tip and ending in a short point, with tiny greenish-white flowers on long stalks, mostly in threes. The fruit is a pair of tiny round pods covered in hooked bristles. Dried leaves smell of vanilla. Northern Bedstraw has four narrow leaves at each joint and upright stems.
When does it bloom?
May into August.
Where does it grow?
Moist woods, thickets, moist meadows, wooded path edges, and partly shaded seeps and riverbanks.
Other flowers to compare
Sources: Minnesota Wildflowers: Fragrant Bedstraw; Illinois Wildflowers: Sweet Bedstraw; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Galium triflorum; Minnesota Wildflowers: Northern Bedstraw.