Smooth bedstraw

Smooth Bedstraw is a perennial with numerous relatively upright stems. In contrast to the annual Catchweed Bedstraw (G. aparine L.), Smooth Bedstraw has an almost hairless, smooth stem (hence the name). Its leaf shape and leaf arrangement in whorls is typical for many bedstraw species (figure 1). Leaves less than 1 inch long are arranged in 6 or 8-leaf whorls. A close relative, the perennial Northern Bedstraw (G. boreale), has four longer (1-2 inches) leaves to each whorl. Smooth Bedstraw produces white to greenish flowers in June and July. If mowed soon after the first flowering, plants may flower a second time in August. Individual plants can grow 1 to 3 feet tall and spread to 3 feet or more in diameter.