https://gardenology.mywikis.net/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Lady%27s_Bedstraw 2026-04-13T04:08:45Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.35.3 https://gardenology.mywikis.net/w/index.php?title=Lady%27s_Bedstraw&diff=10259&oldid=prev 2007-10-20T05:21:42Z

<p></p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Taxobox<br /> | color = lightgreen<br /> | name = ''Galium verum''<br /> | image = Galium verum01.jpg<br /> | image_width = 240px<br /> | image_caption = Lady's Bedstraw in flower<br /> | regnum = [[Plant]]ae<br /> | divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]<br /> | classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]<br /> | ordo = [[Gentianales]]<br /> | familia = [[Rubiaceae]]<br /> | genus = ''[[Galium]]''<br /> | species = '''''G. verum'''''<br /> | binomial = ''Galium verum''<br /> | binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]<br /> }}<br /> <br /> '''''Galium verum''''' ('''Lady's Bedstraw''' or '''Yellow Bedstraw''') is a herbaceous [[annual plant]] of the family [[Rubiaceae]], native to [[Europe]] and [[Asia]]. It is a low scrambling plant, with the stems growing to 60-120 cm long, frequently rooting where they touch the ground. The [[leaf|leaves]] are 1-3 cm long and 2 mm broad, shiny dark green, hairy underneath, borne in whorls of 8-12. The [[flower]]s are 2-3 mm diameter, yellow, produced in dense clusters.<br /> <br /> ===Uses===<br /> In the past the dried plants were used to stuff mattresses, the [[coumarin]] scent of the plants acting as a [[flea]] killer. The flowers were also used to coagulate [[milk]] in [[cheese]] manufacture and, in [[Gloucestershire]], to colour the cheese [[Double Gloucester]].&lt;ref&gt;Howard, Michael. ''Traditional Folk Remedies'', (Century, 1987); p163&lt;/ref&gt; <br /> The plant is also used for dye giving a red [[madder]]-like colour and the stems and leaves give a wonderful yellow.<br /> <br /> ==Mythology==<br /> [[Frigg]] was very much the goddess of married women, in [[Norse mythology]]. She helped women give birth to children, and as Scandinavians used the plant Lady's Bedstraw (''Galium verum'') as a sedative, they called it ''Frigg's grass''&lt;ref&gt;Schön, Ebbe. (2004). ''Asa-Tors hammare, Gudar och jättar i tro och tradition''. Fält &amp; Hässler, Värnamo. p. 228.&lt;/ref&gt;.<br /> <br /> ==See also==<br /> <br /> [[List of Lepidoptera which feed on Galium]]<br /> <br /> ==References and notes==<br /> {{reflist}}<br /> <br /> {{Commons|Galium verum}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Rubiaceae]]<br /> [[Category:Flora of Europe]]<br /> [[Category:Flora of Estonia]]<br /> [[Category:Flora of the United Kingdom]]</div>

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