About Galium boreale L.
Galium boreale L. is a perennial plant that dies back to the ground each winter. Established plants spread via rhizomes, forming colonies of new plants around the original individual. Its unbranched, squarish stems grow between 20 cm (7.9 in) and 50 cm (20 in) tall. Leaves attach directly to the stem in groups of four, spaced evenly like wheel spokes. Leaves are longer than wide, with three prominent veins. Small white flowers grow in fairly showy panicles from the top of the stem. Each individual flower has 4 pointed segments that fold back from a fused tube that encloses the stamens and pistil. The lightly perfumed flowers lack a calyx. Seeds form in pairs in dark fruits that may be covered in short hairs. The Latin specific epithet boreale means northern. In terms of habitat and distribution, Galium boreale grows in sunny locations with dry to moist soil in forests, shrublands, or grassland. It is native to the subarctic and temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, and it is listed as endangered in the U.S. states of Maryland and Massachusetts. Ecologically, Galium boreale is a confirmed food plant for the larvae of Deilephila elpenor, Deilephila porcellus, Epirrhoe galiata, Eupithecia subumbrata, and Gandaritis pyraliata. For uses, Galium boreale is edible, with a sweet smell and taste, and can be eaten as a wild salad green. Smooth-stemmed varieties of Galium including Galium boreale, which do not have small hooks on the stem, are less palatable than hooked Galium varieties such as Galium aparine, but are still important to recognize for survival foraging. Galium boreale is called "bedstraw" because it was used as fragrant stuffing for mattresses. There is chemical evidence that its roots were used to make red textile dyes during the Viking age, from 800 to 1066 CE.
