Hedge Bedstraw
Galium mollugo
Found in moist roadsides, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 65%
- Height
- 1–3 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- May to June
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 41 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
12CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Galium
- Apantesis phylliraPhyllira Tiger Moth
- Apantesis virgoVirgin Tiger Moth
- Costaconvexa centrostrigariaBent-Lined Carpet
- Epirrhoe alternataWhite-Banded Toothed Carpet, Striped Carpet
- Hyles lineataWhite-Lined Sphinx
- Lobocleta ossulariaDrab Brown Wave
- Orthonama obstipataThe Gem
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Scopula limboundataLarge Lace-Border
- Stenoporpia polygrammariaFaded Grey
Show all 12
- Xanthorhoe ferrugataRed Twin-Spot, Twin-Spot Carpet
- Xylophanes tersaTersa Sphinx
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
8BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Galium
- Catharus guttatusHermit Thrush
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
- Coturnicops noveboracensisYellow Rail
- Dendragapus obscurusDusky Grouse
- Falcipennis canadensisSpruce Grouse
- Fulica americanaAmerican Coot
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Rubiaceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “1–3 feet” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
False Babys Breath
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications