white bedstraw
Galium album Mill.
White bedstraw builds a conspicuous flowering display from very small individual blossoms. Its upright or ascending stems carry branching, narrowly pyramidal clusters, giving the upper part of the plant a fine, airy outline. The stems are distinctly four-angled, a useful structural feature beneath the mass of flowers. Burgenland Flora: Galium album s.lat.
Botanical name
Kew accepts Galium album in Rubiaceae and lists Galium mollugo subsp. album as its homotypic synonym. Plants of the World Online: Galium album
Recognizing the plant
Leaves gather in whorls, commonly six to eight at a node in the European flora. They are narrow, firm-textured and green on both surfaces, tapering to pointed tips. Swiss descriptions emphasize the short flower stalks: even the longer ones are only one to three millimetres long and remain shorter than the flower’s diameter. The white corolla spreads into four lobes, each ending in a fine point. Flowering branches tend to remain relatively close rather than becoming widely spreading as the fruits develop. Burgenland Flora: Galium album s.lat.German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, FloraWeb: Galium album subsp. albumInfo Flora: Galium album
Bloom window
Switzerland
Flora Helvetica records flowering from June through October. Info Flora: Galium album
Native range
Its native range extends across Europe and the Mediterranean region into western Siberia. In Switzerland, it grows in meadows, scrub and roadsides, from lowland hills into the subalpine belt. Plants of the World Online: Galium albumInfo Flora: Galium album
Botanical sources
- Plants of the World Online: Galium album
- Burgenland Flora: Galium album s.lat.
- German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, FloraWeb: Galium album subsp. album
- Info Flora: Galium album
Reviewed 2026-10-11. Seasonal development varies with location and growing conditions.