About Galium uliginosum L.
Galium uliginosum, commonly known as fen bedstraw, is a plant species belonging to the genus Galium. It is widely distributed across most of Europe, and also found in Morocco, Western Siberia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Xinjiang. It has been reported as naturalized in New Zealand, Greenland, and the Crozet Islands. This species is a component of purple moor grass and rush pastures, a habitat type protected under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. It grows on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils in lowlands and upland fringe areas, and can be found in South West England, particularly in Devon. Fen bedstraw is easily confused with Galium palustre (marsh bedstraw), but it can be distinguished by the bristly edges of its leaves, and by the fact that it does not turn black when dried. Like other species in the bedstraw genus Galium, its leaves are arranged in whorls of 6 to 10 around the stem.
