Galium labradoricum (Wieg.) Wieg.

Bog Bedstraw

• State Rank: S2
• Global Rank: G5
• State Status: Special Concern

Habitat: Bogs, mossy thickets, woods. [Conifer forest (forest, upland)]

Range: Newfoundland to Wisconsin, Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and New York.

Aids to Identification: Bedstraws are slender herbs with whorled leaves, 3- or 4-petaled flowers, and inferior ovaries. They occur in a wide variety of mesic to hydric communities. G. labradoricum, and its close relative, G. obtusum are distinguished from other bedstraws by the combination of single-nerved leaves, occurring 4 at each node, 4-petaled flowers, and a dense ring of pubescence on the stem underneath the leaves. G. obtusum has ascending to spreading larger leaves and tuberculate fruits, while G. labradoricum has recurved to deflexed smaller leaves and smooth fruits.

Ecological characteristics: Found locally in peatlands, sedge meadows, Northern White Cedar Swamps, and mossy woods.

Phenology: Flowers June - August.

Family: Rubiaceae

Synonyms: Galium tinctorium (L.) Scop. var. labradoricum Wieg.

Known Distribution in Maine: This rare plant has been documented from a total of 21 town(s) in the following county(ies): Aroostook, Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo, Washington.

Dates of documented observations are: 1934, 1939, 1940, 1964, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001 (2)

Reason(s) for rarity: Unknown.

Conservation considerations: Unknown