Lady's Bedstraw - Galium verum
Usually less than 30 cm tall and rather sprawling. Stoloniferous. Stems rounded with four rows of hairs. Leaves dark green, shiny in whorls of 8 to 12. Flowers golden yellow 2 to 3 mm in dense golden panicle.
Grassland, hedgebanks and roadside verges, etc.
June to September.
Perennial.
Commonand widespread in Britain.
Common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 520 of the 617 tetrads
Graham Calow
Springwell Lane, near Whetsone
01 July 2016
David Nicholls
Burbage Common
01 July 2011
Graham Calow
Ullesthorpe Stewardship Farm
31 August 2012
HAPeacock
City Farm - Cow Field
26 June 2012
Graham Calow
Broughton Astley
24 June 2011
HAPeacock
City Farm - Cow Field
26 June 2012
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
Enter a town or village to see local records
MAP KEY:
Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020
UK Map
Species profile
- Common names
- Lady's Bedstraw
- Species group:
- flowering plant
- Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Order:
- Gentianales
- Family:
- Rubiaceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 362
- First record:
- 22/06/2006 (John Kramer)
- Last record:
- 22/09/2025 (Smith, Peter)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.
In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.
Latest images
Latest records
. 'The Park' Field Sapcote SP 4848 9330 (taken 23.6.2006)..JPG)
Graham Calow
The Park Field, Sapcote
23 June 2006
Graham Calow
Burbage Common
21 July 2015. Sharnford Road Sapcote SP 4925 9287 (taken 23.6.2006).JPG)
Graham Calow
Sapcote
23 June 2006 'The Park' Field Sapcote SP 4848 9330 (taken 23.6.2006).JPG)
Graham Calow
The Park Field, Sapcote
23 June 2006
Ron.stevens
Broughton Astley
24 June 2011
David Nicholls
Lea Meadows
07 July 2011
Graham Calow
Jubilee Walk, Leire
02 August 2011
David Nicholls
Ullesthorpe Stewardship Farm
02 September 2011
HAPeacock
City Farm - Cow Field
26 June 2012
Alan Semper
Harby, Langar La verge
07 July 2012
Barbara Cooper
Clawson Hill
12 July 2012
Barbara Cooper
Clawson Hill
12 July 2012
David Nicholls
Nature Alive, Coalville
12 July 2012
HAPeacock
Billa Barra
21 July 2012
HAPeacock
Billa Barra
21 July 2012
HAPeacock
Billa Barra
21 July 2012
Fran Marsland
Broughton Astley
17 July 2012
Dave Neville
Hathern
23 August 2012
Graham Calow
Frolesworth Churchyard
28 July 2015
. 'The Park' Field Sapcote SP 4848 9330 (taken 23.6.2006)..JPG)
. Sharnford Road Sapcote SP 4925 9287 (taken 23.6.2006).JPG)
 'The Park' Field Sapcote SP 4848 9330 (taken 23.6.2006).JPG)
Staegeriella necopinata
Staegeriella necopinata is associated with bedstraws, mainly Lady’s Bedstraw. Adult apterae are yellowish-green or greyish-green aphids powdered ventrally with grey wax.
Geocrypta galii
The larvae of the gall midge Geocrypta galii produce smooth, spherical galls of a pinkish, greenish or even fully reddish appearance within the nodes of Lady’s Bedstraw and Hedge Bedstraw and may occur in large numbers where present. The galls can fuse together and encircle the stem. A single larva is found in each growth and is orange in colour. The galls turn brown with age and have an outer covering of short, shiny hairs.
Puccinia galii-verni
Puccinia galii-verni is a fungus which galls Bedstraws (Lady's Bedstraw, Heath Bedstraw, Fen Bedstraw) and rarely Crosswort. It usually affects the stem or underside of leaves, producing small orange-brown swellings with brown telia. There is no host alternation, and only telia are produced.