Theodore Payne Garden Tour - Next Weekend

The Theodore Payne Garden Tour is this coming weekend (Mother Nature's Backyard is open on Saturday as part of the tour).  If you haven't got your tickets yet, see: http://www.nativeplantgardentour.org/

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Spring Native Plant Sale - Edible, Medicinal & Useful Plants

Take advantage of the recent rains!  Plant an edible, medicinal or useful plant.  For more on the CSU Dominguez Hills spring native plant sale see: http://nativeplantscsudh.blogspot.com/2016/03/spring-plant-sale-edible-medicinal.html

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Plant of the Month (March) : Narrowleaf bedstraw – Galium angustifolium

Narrowleaf bedstraw (Galium angustifolium) - Mother Nature's Backyard

An
overall dry winter, with occasional bouts of rain, has many plants confused as
to season. Hard to blame them; we’re a bit confused ourselves.  One perennial that’s getting ready to bloom is
the Narrowleaf bedstraw, Galium
angustifolium.  Its cheery flowers
can be seen this month in both Mother Nature’s Backyard and the Garden of
Health.

Around
40 species of bedstraw are native to California, according to CalFlora [1].  In addition to Galium angustifolium, the following are native to Western Los
Angeles County: Phloxleaf bedstraw (Galium
andrewsii), Common bedstraw (Galium
aparine), Box bedstraw (Galium
buxifolium – Channel Island species), Santa catalina island bedstraw (Galium catalinense – Channel Island
species), Santa Barbara bedstraw (Galium
cliftonsmithii), Climbing bedstraw (Galium
nuttallii), Graceful bedstraw (Galium
porrigens) and Threepetal bedstraw (Galium
trifidum).  The most common locally are Galium angustifolium, G. aparine,
G. nuttallii and G. porrigens.   An
additional 9 or 10 species can be found in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los
Angeles County.

Galium angustifolium is one of the most common bedstraws
in S. California and Baja California, Mexico. 
It includes eight recognized sub-species, some of them narrow endemics.   Like
most California bedstraws, Galium
angustifolium is an herbaceous perennial. 
Amongst the California species, only 4 are annuals, and a few others are
large enough to be called shrubs or vines. 
  If you want to plant a
bedstraw in your garden, Narrowleaf bedstraw is a pretty good representative
species.

The
genus Galium, which is found in
temperate climates throughout the world, is one of the larger genera in the
Family Rubiaceae, the Madder or Bedstraw
Family. While bedstraws were well known in past eras, they are little remarked
upon today.  They are not as showy as
some of the better known California natives, and their useful attributes have
fallen out of favor.  So while they are
common – you’ve no doubt seen them when hiking in the local mountains – they
don’t receive much press today.  And
that’s a shame, since they are good little garden plants.



Narrowleaf bedstraw (Galium angustifolium) - growth form

Narrowleaf
bedstraw is a rather delicate-appearing perennial or sub-shrub that grows to 1-3
feet tall and 2-3 feet wide.  It is
notable for its many slender branches and narrow leaves, which give the entire
plant an open appearance. The general shape is mounded to slightly sprawling.  The bases of the branches become woody; the
ends are always herbaceous.

Narrowleaf bedstraw (Galium angustifolium) - foliage

 

The
leaves are very narrow, bright green becoming medium green, arranged in whorls
of four at intervals along the stems. The number of leaves per whorl – and its
perennial lifestyle – distinguish it from the Common bedstraw, an annual with
six to eight leaves per whorl.  With
summer water, Narrowleaf bedstraw can be evergreen; in water-wise gardens like
Mother Nature’s Backyard, it becomes dormant during the dry season (usually
about August).   You can cut it back then,
or just leave until the fall pruning season. 
It quickly leafs out and grows in early spring.

Narrowleaf bedstraw (Galium angustifolium) - flowers

 

Narrowleaf
bedsraw blooms in the spring – anytime from March to May in western Los Angeles
County.  The plant is dioecious; male and
female flowers grow on separate plants.  That
means you’ll need at least one of each in a garden to produce viable
seeds.  The two flowers look similar:
both are small, yellow-green to pale yellow, in dense clusters. In a good year,
plants will be covered in blooms (see above). The mature flowers are hairy, as
are the seed capsules - small nutlets with straight, bristly hairs (which allow
them to latch onto passing animals for distribution).  We’ll try to get some good nutlet photos this
year.

Galium angustifolium seed capsules

 

 

Narrowleaf bedstraw (Galium angustifolium) - foreground

 in front of 'Howard McMinn' manzanita

 

Narrowleaf
bedstraw is not at all picky or difficult to grow.  In fact, it’s much sturdier than you might
guess from its appearance.  While this
species normally grows in rocky, well-drained soils we’ve have no problems with
it in clays.  It likes some afternoon
shade in hot gardens, and does well in high shade or to the east of larger
shrubs.  It can take anything from moderate
to infrequent water.  We prune ours back
to about 8 inches in the fall to encourage a bushy shape.  That’s just about all the management that’s
needed.

Narrowleaf bedstraw (Galium angustifolium) - Mother Nature's

 Backyard

 

We
love this plant as a filler in gardens that range from informal to
semi-formal.  It’s an excellent choice
for mid-beds, where its green foliage and flowers are appreciated in spring.  The foliage provides a nice contrast to garden
shrubs (see above).  There really is
nothing that looks quite like this plant.

In
the past, the dried foliage of Galium species was used to stuff straw
mattresses, imparting a fresh, sweet scent. 
We’ll dry some and try it in a natural pillow.   Galium
angustifolium is likely utilized as a larval food by several moth
species.  We’ll try to keep an eye out
for caterpillars and update with our findings. 
 A tea made from the foliage, with
or without flowers, was used as a traditional medicine for diarrhea by the Kumeyaay
or Southern Diegueno Indians [2].  The
foliage could be used fresh or dry.  We’ll
dry some and give it a try when the need arises!

Narrowleaf bedstraw (Galium angustifolium) -

young plant in the Garden of Health

 

In
summary, Galium angustifolium is an
interesting filler plant suitable for S. California gardens.  It’s green foliage and cheery blooms are a
welcome sight every spring.  It can be
tucked in around shrubs, and it’s rumored to have both habitat and medicinal
value.  For some reason, we’re captivated
by this unassuming little plant – and hope you will be too.

 

For a
gardening information sheet see: http://www.slideshare.net/cvadheim/gardening-sheet-galium-angustifolium

For more
pictures of this plant see: http://www.slideshare.net/cvadheim/galium-angustifolium-web-show

For plant
information sheets on other native plants see: http://nativeplantscsudh.blogspot.com/p/gallery-of-native-plants_17.html

 

1. Calflora - http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/specieslist.cgi?where-genus=Galium
   




2. http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/Plants%20of%20Upper%20Newport%20Bay%20(Robert%20De%20Ruff)/Rubiaceae/Galium%20angustifolium.htm

 

 

We
welcome your comments (below).  You can
also send your questions to: mothernaturesbackyard10@gmail.com

 

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