Galium verum Lady's Bedstraw CC DD N
A plant of high summer, this one covers many banks of minor and major roads and even motorways. On the A55 leading into North Wales the steep banks are covered with it. Often it is a plant no more than a few centimetres tall but as the LHS photo shows, can grow to over 1 metre in height.
Lady's bedstraw was used as a soft and fragrant mattress filling for ladies but more than that it had styptic properties (placed on wounds to stop bleeding) and in Cheshire was used to curdle the milk used in the making of Cheese.
G. verum is found throughout the British Isles and Ireland but there are a few small regions in northern Scotland and Ireland and in southern Ireland where it is un common.
LHS: Verge opposite Stanlow Oil refinery 30th June 2005 RHS Great Orme 18th July 2002
Added on December 11th 2004, updated 20th January 2009, updated 31st March 2010, updated 19th Nov 2014