Galium buxifolium

Box bedstraw

Family: Rubiaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2 · Delisted

Box bedstraw is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native shrub found in the northern Channel Islands on rocky bluffs and slopes at elevations of 10 to 400 meters. Flowering from March to July, this plant produces small white flowers in dense, leafy clusters emerging from woody stem nodes. Growing 3 to 6 decimeters tall with an erect form, it has a glabrous to slightly scabrous appearance. Its leaves grow in whorls of 4, measuring 8 to 30 millimeters long, with elliptic to widely oblanceolate shapes that are leathery and rounded, occasionally with a small pointed tip. The fruit consists of nutlets with curved hairs pointing toward the tip.

Habitat: Rocky bluffs, slopes

Bloom period: Mar-Jul

Elevation: 10-400 m

Bioregions: n ChI.

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.