About Galium triflorum Michx.
Galium triflorum Michx., also commonly called cudweed, sweet-scented bedstraw, and fragrant bedstraw, is a herbaceous plant belonging to the Rubiaceae family. It has a wide distribution across northern Europe, including Scandinavia, Switzerland, Russia, and the Baltic States; eastern Asia, including Kamchatka, Japan, Korea, Guizhou, and Sichuan; the Middle East; the Indian subcontinent, including parts of North India and Nepal; and North America, ranging from Alaska and Greenland south to Veracruz. This plant is classified as a noxious weed in the U.S. states of New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Galium triflorum grows on forest floors, spreading vegetatively via stolons. It produces whorled leaves, with single fruiting peduncles that grow upward above basal rosettes. Six bracts form a whorl below each peduncle, and every peduncle bears three fruiting structures, each containing a single fuzzy ball. The stems of this plant are square in cross-section. The whole plant is not overly coarse to the touch, but it is rough enough to cling to clothing. This species is sometimes mistaken for Galium odoratum, a species that has traditional culinary uses.
