Galium parishii

Parish's bedstraw

Family: Rubiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Parish's bedstraw is a California native perennial found in the southern and eastern mountains of the Peninsular Ranges, San Bernardino Mountains, and desert mountains on steep slopes, rocky washes, and talus at elevations of 1,675 to 3,400 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces small rotate flowers in red to pink shades, occasionally yellow, with a delicate hairy exterior. Growing with erect or matted stems 5 to 40 centimeters tall, it develops a woody base and appears generally puberulent. Its leaves grow in distinctive whorls of 4, arranged in 2 unequal pairs, with small ovate to round blades 1 to 9 millimeters long, typically showing three prominent veins. The plant produces nutlets with long, straight hairs, characteristic of its delicate bedstraw structure.

Habitat: Steep slopes, rocky washes, talus, among boulders

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1675-3400 m

Bioregions: SnGb, SnBr, e PR, DMtns

California counties: San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, Inyo, Tuolumne, San Diego

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