Characteristics:
Small bedstraw is a small, often over-looked wildflower with
numerous, slender and weak stems arising from slender, creeping rhizomes.
The stems scramble over vegetation, are smooth to somewhat rough in texture,
and range from 5-60 cm in length. The leaves are entirely on the stems and
are found in whorls of 4's, 5's or 6's. Individual leaves are linear in shape
with one central vein. They range from 10-25 mm long.
The infloresences are terminal or found in the leaf axils
and are 1-3 flowered. The corolla is very small (ranging from 1-1.5 mm wide),
typically with 3 petals (See photo at right.) although some flowers may occasionally
have 4 petals. The fruits consist of 2 globular segments which are smooth
(not covered with hairs).
Habitat:
Small bedstraw is found in moist places from sea level to
high elevations in the mountains.
Range:
A wide-ranging plant, small bedstraw is found over much of
the northern hemisphere. It may be found in North American from the Arctic
south to California, northern New Mexico, Texas, Alabama and Georgia.
In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found between the elevations
of 0'-2800' from Troutdale, OR east to The Dalles, OR.
The photo above shows the 3 petals and 4
leaflets of small bedstraw as seen from Muddy Meadows on the northern slopes
of Mt. Adams, August 7, 2005.
The
photo at right shows the much-branched nature of small bedstraw as seen from
the Jackson-Frazier Wetlands northeast of Corvallis, OR........June 10, 2001.