Bluntleaf Bedstraw (Galium obtusum)
- Family: Madder (Rubiaceae)
- Flowering: May-July.
- Field Marks: This bedstraw is characterized by its 1-veined leaves in whorls of 4 and its tiny white flowers.
- Habitat: Swamps, wet prairies, low woods, roadside ditches.
- Habit: Perennial herb with fibrous roots.
- Stems: Matted or erect, smooth or rough-hairy, 4-sided, up to 2 feet long.
- Leaves: In whorls of 4, simple, linear to lanceolate, rounded at the tip, tapering to the base, rough to the touch, up to 1 1/2 inches long, up to 1/3 inch broad.
- Flowers: 2-4 in short, terminal clusters, white, up to 1/4 inch broad.
- Sepals: Minute, not differentiated into lobes.
- Petals: 4, white, united.
- Stamens: 4.
- Pistils: Ovary inferior, smooth.
- Fruits: Dry, spherical, smooth, 1-seeded.
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