Galium boreale – Northern Bedstraw – 1.25-Quart

A relative of the commonly used non-native, shady groundcover, Sweet Woodruf (Galium odoratum). This species is circumboreal, occuring in Asia, Europe and North America. It’s found throughout a good portion of New York State, though it hasn’t been found in Ulster County. It inhabits dry-mesic to mesic thin hardwood forests and woodlands, forest edges, occasionally in successional fields, and stream edges.

It’s a coarser, more upright plant than Sweet Woodruff, and while it does spread by stolons its upright form means it’s not really a groundcover; instead it acts as an effective foil when grown with other Spring-blooming natives that like the woodland edge such as Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) and Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea). Another reason to grow Northern Bedstraw – it’s a host plant for Bedstraw Hawkmoth (Hyales gallii), shown in the secondary image.