Galium tricornutum
Rough corn bedstraw, Rough Corn Bedstraw
Family: Rubiaceae · Type: annual · Native
Rough corn bedstraw is a naturalized annual herb found in northern California regions including the Sierra Nevada foothills, Central Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, and South Coast Ranges in grasslands, vernal pools, and freshwater marshes at elevations of 100 to 2,000 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces small white rotate flowers in sparse axillary clusters. Growing with sprawling to trailing stems 10 to 35 centimeters tall that become open and dense when in flower, it spreads across the ground with a distinctive growth habit. Its leaves grow in whorls of 6 to 8, featuring narrow linear to oblanceolate blades 12 to 19 millimeters long with short recurved prickly margins. The fruit consists of nutlet pairs wider than 4 millimeters, with acute tubercles that aid in seed dispersal.
Habitat: Grassland, vernal pools, freshwater marsh, roadsides
Bloom period: Apr-May
Elevation: 100-2000 m
Bioregions: NCoR, n&c SNF, n SNH, GV, SnFrB, SCoRO
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.