Shining Bedstraw

 Galium concinnum 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 12:30 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: meadow restoration area
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

The flowers of the Shining Bedstraw have four tiny petals.  They grow in clusters that branch out from the main stem.  This image also shows the whorled arrangement of the entire-patterned leaves.  The leaves are tiny--half an inch at most.

 I am not sure how tall the plant was, as I can only describe it as sprawling amongst other herbaceous plants on the side of a grassy trail.  A difficulty in identifying this plant lay in the fact that Shining Bedstraw and Marsh Bedstraw are very similar to each other.  Marsh Bedstraw grows in the area, but the habitat was not wet enough to give this classification.  Shining bedstraw is not found in this area as often, but the average moisture levels of the soil led me to this species identification.

(Newcomb, 2011, p. 152)