Galium verum: Difference between revisions

[[File:CublesuSJ2012 (91).JPG|thumb|right|250px|<{{center>|Yellow bedstraw (Sânziana galbenă) from the spontaneous flora of the Transylvanian Plateau</center>}}]]

'''''Galium verum''''' ('''lady's bedstraw'''<ref name=BSBI07>{{cite web |title=BSBI List 2007 |publisher=Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland |url=http://www.bsbi.org.uk/BSBIList2007.xls |format=xls |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6VqJ46atN?url=http://www.bsbi.org.uk/BSBIList2007.xls |archive-date=2015-01-25 |access-date=2014-10-17 |url-status=dead |df= }}</ref> or '''yellow bedstraw''') is a herbaceous [[perennial plant]] of the family [[Rubiaceae]]. It is widespread across most of Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia from PalestineIsrael, Lebanon and Turkey to Japan and [[Kamchatka]]. It is naturalized in [[Tasmania]], New Zealand, Canada, and the northern half of the United States. It is considered a noxious weed in some places.<ref name="peggyearnshaw">[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=87863 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref><ref>[http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Galium%20verum.png Biota of North America Program]</ref><ref>[http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/index1.php?scientific-name=galium+verum Altervista Flora Italiana]</ref>

''Galium verum'' is aan low scramblingupright plant, with thestiff stems growing to {{convert|6015|-|120|cm}} long, frequently rooting where they touch the groundtall. The [[leaf|leaves]] are {{convert|1|-|3|cm|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|2|mm}} broad, shiny dark green, hairy underneath, borne in whorls of 8–12. The [[flower]]s are {{convert|2|-|3|mm|abbr=on}} in diameter, yellow, and produced in dense clusters. This species is sometimes confused with ''[[Galium odoratum]]'', a species with traditional culinary uses.<ref>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200022090 Flora of China, v 19 p 139, 蓬子菜 peng zi cai, ''Galium verum'' ]</ref>

In medieval Europe, the dried plants were used to stuff mattresses,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Niering |first1=William A. |authorlink1author-link1=William Niering| last2=Olmstead |first2=Nancy C. |title=The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region |year=1985 |origyearorig-year=1979|publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-394-50432-1 |page=764}}</ref> as the [[coumarin]] scent of the plants acts as a [[flea]] repellant. The flowers were also used to [[coagulate]] milk in cheese manufacture (which gives the plant its name, from the Greek word meaningγάλα, "Milk"''gala'' (Gala, γάλα'milk') and, in [[Gloucestershire]], to colour the cheese [[double Gloucester]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Howard | first=Michael A. | year=1987 | title=Traditional Folk Remedies: A Comprehensive Herbal | isbn=0-7126-1731-0 | publisher=Random House of Canada | pages=163–}}</ref>

In [[Gaelic mythology]], the hero [[Cú Chulainn]], who suffered fits of rage during battle, would take a [[tea]] of this plant to calm his frenzy.{{Citation needed|reason=This claim needs a reliable source.|date=September 2018}} The plant is known as ''lus chneas Chù-Chulainn'' 'the herb of Cú Chulainn's skin' in [[Scottish Gaelic]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cairnwater.co.uk/faclair/ViewEntry.aspx?ID=0B49BF5FAC3E847BD8AAB218426D1807|title=lus chneas Chù-Chulainn|last=|first=|date=|website=Am Faclair Beag|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=|access-date=September 11, 2018}}</ref> and in the 14th/15th centuries it occurred with the Irish name ''Bolad cneise con Culainn'' ‘the smell of Cú Chulainn’s skin’ (NLI G 11 182b2).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vanhamel.nl/codecs/Dublin,_National_Library_of_Ireland,_MS_G_11|title=Dublin, National Library of Ireland, MS G 11|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=|access-date=}}</ref>

Many varietal and subspecific names have been proposed, but only four are currently (May 2014) recognized:<ref name="peggyearnshaw">[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=87863 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref>

*[http://wildseed.co.uk/species/view/57 Emorsgate seeds, wild seeds of the UK, Galium verum – Lady's Bedstraw] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529091337/http://wildseed.co.uk/species/view/57 |date=2015-05-29 }}

*[http://wilde-planten.nl/geel%20walstro.htm Wilde Planten in Nederland en Belgie, Geel walstro, Giel slyt, Lady's Bedstraw (Yellow Spring Bedstraw, Cheese Rennet, Fleaweed, Gallion, Ladys Bedstraw, Maidens Hair, Petty Mugget, Wirtgen's Bedstraw, Wirtgens Bedstraw), Gaillet jaune, Echtes Labkraut, Galium verum ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713164404/http://wilde-planten.nl/geel%20walstro.htm |date=2016-07-13 }}