(northern bedstraw)
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Photo of Galium boreale by Jacob Frank
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Northern bedstraw is an abundant boreal forest herb, with stem leaves in whorls of four and many small white flowers. It occurs in open woods and forest edges and meadows, particularly where there has been recent fire, ascending into lush subalpine meadows. Plants have square stems, and grow 20-40 cm tall. The leaves are sessile,
whorled,
entire-margined and
lanceolate-
elliptic, with three prominent veins. Branched
inflorescences are produced in the leaf
axils and from the terminal
node. The flowers are small, with four white petals and four
stamens, with two fused
carpels. The fruits are two round, densely hairy
achenes, fused at the center. The only other plant in Denali with
whorled leaves and many small white flowers is the closely related
Galium trifidum. That plant is much less robust and the flowers have three petals, not four.
Galium boreale is a perennial and
deciduous plant that flowers in mid-summer.
Plants are
monoecious, flowers are bisexual. Measured from Iowa,
Galium boreale has a very high pollen to ovule ratio, which indicates an out-crossing breeding system (Cruden 1977). However, no experiments on the reproductive biology of
G. boreale have been performed. The fruits are covered in bristles, which may aid in dispersal by catching on the fur of animals.
Galium boreale is a widespread circumpolar species. Northern bedstraw occurs widely across most of the North American continent, except for the southeastern U.S. States. In Alaska, northern bedstraw occurs from the Brooks Range southwards to the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak and the Kenai Peninsula, occurring throughout the interior and western parts of the state. The species is absent from Prince William Sound and Southeast Alaska. In Denali, Galium boreale is widely distributed in suitable habitat on both the sides of the Alaska Range crest.
Details are shown in the Plots & Charts found at right, depicting recent Denali data.
Northern bedstraw occurs at all categories of elevation in the park, ranging from 136 to 1667 m, but it is most frequent at 900-1100 m. The average incline for an occurrence of this species is 10 degrees slope, but the only place this species realizes any level of cover is on plots above 28 degrees incline (0.6% cover). It is most frequent on southern aspects.
Details are shown in the Plots & Charts found at right. For more on how to interpret these figures, visit Understanding Data Presented.
Northern bedstraw is found in gravelly slopes, disturbed areas and meadows.
Moist to dry sites.
