Bedstraw Family

Galium

1 Leaves mostly in whorls of 4 (rarely a few in whorls of 5-6) at the primary nodes ................................................................................... Key A
1 Leaves mostly in whorls of 5-8 or more at the primary nodes.
  2 Leaves mostly 6 per node (ranging from 5-8) at the primary nodes ...................................................................................................... Key B
  2 Leaves mostly 8 or more per node at the primary nodes ........................................................................................................................ Key C


Key A – Bedstraws with leaves mostly in whorls of 4 (rarely a few in whorls of 5-6)

1 Flowers yellow; plant an annual, 5-30cm tall ............................................................................................................. Piedmont Crosswort
1 Flowers white, creamy, greenish-purple, maroon, or purple; plant a perennial, 10-80cm tall.
  2 Larger leaves 6-25mm wide, mostly 1.5-4× as long as wide; fruits uncinate-hispid; flowers greenish or purplish.
    3 Flowers (some of them) sessile or subsessile along the inflorescence branches; leaves 1.5-5cm long, the larger usually > 2.5cm long,
      not punctate ............................................................................................................................................................ Licorice Bedstraw
    3 Flowers all distinctly pedicelled; leaves 1-2.5 cm long, glandular-punctate beneath ................................................ Hairy Bedstraw
  2 Larger leaves 1-6mm wide, mostly 4-20× as long as wide; fruits smooth or pubescent (if pubescent, the hairs not hooked at the end,
    though they may curve through their length), either fleshy or dry; flowers white or creamy.
    6 Fruits fleshy, blue-black; leaves firm, more-or-less evergreen, glandular-punctate beneath ..................................Coastal Bedstraw
    6 Fruits dry, black; leaves herbaceous, deciduous, not glandular-punctate beneath.
      7 Stems erect or nearly so; leaves 15-45 mm long, 2-6mm wide ......................................................................... Northern Bedstraw
      7 Stems sprawling, matted; leaves 6-30 mm long, 0.5-5(-6)mm wide.
        8 Corollas 3-(4)-lobed, the lobes about as wide as long, or wider than long............................................... Stiff Marsh Bedstraw
        8 Corollas 4-lobed, the lobes longer than wide ......................................................................................... Blunt-leaved Bedstraw

Key B – Bedstraws with leaves mostly 6 per node (ranging from 4-8)

1 Flowers in terminal heads, subtended by an involucre of leaves fused at the base; stem rough-hairy, but not with backward-pointing
  bristles ..................................................................................................................................................................................... Field Madder
1 Flowers in axillary or terminal diffuse inflorescences, not subtended by an involucre; stems either smooth, retrorse scabrid, or pubescent.
  2 Fruits and ovaries uncinate-hispid; leaves 15-50 mm long, 7-10mm wide .............................................................. Fragrant Bedstraw
  2 Fruits and ovaries glabrous or papillose; leaves 5-25mm long, 1-6mm wide ...................................................... Stiff Marsh Bedstraw


Key C – Bedstraws with leaves mostly 8 or more per node (ranging from 5-12)

1 Leaves 8-12 per whorl (many whorls with > 8 leaves); flowers bright yellow, in a large showy terminal compound inflorescence; fruits
  glabrous; perennial ............................................................................................................................................................ Lady's Bedstraw
1 Leaves (5-)8(-10) per whorl (few if any whorls with > 8 leaves); flowers white or greenish, in a terminal compound inflorescence or in
  small axillary inflorescences; fruits glabrous, papillose, or uncinate-hispid; annual or perennial.
  2 Stems retrorsely scabrous; annual .............................................................................................................................................. Cleavers
  2 Stems glabrous or pubescent, but not scabrous; perennial .......................................................................................... Hedge Bedstraw