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Galium
Sign in to saveAlso known as Bedstraw
Galium is a large genus of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Rubiaceae, occurring in the temperate zones of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Some species are informally known as bedstraw.
OverviewAI-generated
Galium is a genus of plants in the family Rubiaceae, commonly known as bedstraw. It belongs to the order Gentianales, class Magnoliopsida, and phylum Tracheophyta within the kingdom Plantae. The genus is accepted in taxonomic records and includes species such as Galium verum, which serves as the taxonomic type. Some species within the genus are used as dye plants.
The genus comprises approximately 400 species found globally. These plants are described as annual, weak herbs or rhizomatous perennials. Galium has been introduced to several locations, including Hawaii, Mauritius, Nigeria, Ogasawara-shoto, Réunion, Svalbard, and Tristan da Cunha. One common name for a related species is catchweed bedstraw.
Synthesized by Vinony from 47 facts across 10 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, iNaturalist, Encyclopedia of Life, PubMed, Gbif Occ, Plants of the World, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
catchweed bedstraw
Galium
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassMagnoliopsida
- OrderGentianales
- FamilyRubiaceae
拉拉藤属（学名：Galium），又名豬殃殃屬，是茜草科下的一个属，为一年生、纤弱草本或根茎多年生植物。该属共有约400种，遍布全球。
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 10,058
- With media
- 5,939
- Family
- Rubiaceae
- Collections
- INECOL, IIB-UV, FC-UNAM, IBUNAM, GH, IEA-UAT
- Recorded in
- Mexico
Research
314 papers- Galium.Atlanta medical and surgical journal · 1868Phares DL
- Galium aparine L. protects against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in rats.Chemico-biological interactions · 2022Sahin B, Karabulut S, Filiz AK et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.cbi.2022.110119
- Immuno-Enhancing Effects of Galium aparine L. in Cyclophosphamide-Induced Immunosuppressed Animal Models.Nutrients · 2024Lee SY, Park SY, Park HJDOI: 10.3390/nu16050597
- Phytochemical Screening and Antioxidant Activity of Selected Estonian Galium Species.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Laanet PR, Saar-Reismaa P, Jõul P et al.DOI: 10.3390/molecules28062867
- Intra-individual variation in Galium odoratum is affected by experimental drought and shading.Annals of botany · 2023Møller C, March-Salas M, Kuppler J et al.DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcac148
- A Review of Phytochemical and Pharmacological Studies on Galium verum L., Rubiaceae.ReviewMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Petkova MK, Grozeva NH, Tzanova MT et al.DOI: 10.3390/molecules30081856
- Phytochemical Investigation and Antimicrobial Activity of Galium libanoticum.Infectious disorders drug targets · 2025Kanso MA, Hijazi SM, El-Lakany A et al.DOI: 10.2174/0118715265398196250827030711
- Galium verum L. extract mitigates cardiovascular events in psoriasis rats.Molecular and cellular biochemistry · 2025Corbic M, Jakovljevic V, Nikolic M et al.DOI: 10.1007/s11010-025-05215-0
via PubMed
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Genetic variability
- As invasive species
- See also
- References
- External links
Galium is a large genus of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Rubiaceae, occurring in the temperate zones of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Some species are informally known as bedstraw.
Over 600 species of Galium are described, with estimates of 629 to 650 as of 2013. The field madder, Sherardia arvensis, is a close relative and may be confused with a tiny bedstraw. Asperula is also a closely related genus; some species of Galium (such as woodruff, G. odoratum) are occasionally placed therein.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Galium” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.