Species

Galium trilobum

Etymology

Galium: From the Greek galo 'milk', the leaves of Galium verum being used in the past to curdle milk
trilobum: three-lobed

Common Name(s)

native bedstraw

Current Conservation Status

2012 - Not Threatened

Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2012 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2009 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, Paul D. Champion, Shannel P. Courtney, Peter B. Heenan, John W. Barkla, Ewen K. Cameron, David A. Norton and Rodney A. Hitchmough. File size: 792KB

Previous Conservation Status

2009 - Not Threatened
2004 - Not Threatened

Authority

Galium trilobum Colenso

Family

Rubiaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

GALTRI

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Synonyms

Galium tenuicaule A.Cunn . nom. illegit. non Krocker (1823)

Distribution

Endemic to New Zealand. North and South Island.

Habitat

Lowland to upland. In shady, damp and wet places, such as forest margins, scrub, stream and lake sides, moist pastures and tussockland, shrubland, rushland in seepage and near swamps.

Features

Perennial herb with straggling, slender stems, 10-70cm long. Leaf stems 0.5-3mm long. Leaves 2-10mm long, 0.8-3mm wide, narrower elliptic or spoon-shaped, in whorls of 4. Flower stalks up to 20mm long. Flowers white, starry, 2-3mm diameter, 3-4 clumped in lead axils. Fruit small, round, dark brown.

Similar Taxa

Galium propinquum, G. palustre, G. perpusillum. G. trilobum has narrower, longer leaves and larger flowers on longer flower stems than G. propinquum. The introduced G. palustre has 5-30 flowers per head. G. perpusillum has narrower leaves, shorter stems and single flowers.

Flowering

September to March

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

November to May

Propagation Technique

Easily grown from cuttings and fresh seed but appears to be hard to maintain in cultivation.

Threats

Not Threatened but exact distribution unclear as it is frequently confused with the introduced Galium palustre and G. debilis. Herbarium evidence suggests it has declined from a large part of its northern North Island range but is still common in large parts of southern North Island, and along the eastern side of South Island. There is some evidence that two forms of G. trilobum exist, and this complicates conservation assessments. The one described here, matches the widespread form, and is commonly found in grey scrub communities and wetlands in the drier eastern part of the country. The other is now scarce, seemingly preferring raupo reedlands, and is a larger plant, with longer primarily sublinear leaves.

Chromosome No.

2n = 44

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Mericarps are dispersed by attachment and possibly also wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).

Where To Buy

Not commercially available

 

  

References and further reading

Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309

This page last updated on 25 Sep 2014