Photos: Patrick Slavin, Co.Clare

Limestone Bedstraw Galium sterneri Rú beag Family: Rubiaceae Flowering time: June-July. Perennial. Native. Small cream-white flowers, 4-petalled, in broad panicles. Hairless, warty fruit. Leaves in whorls, narrow oblong-linear, broadest above middle, with pointed, bristle-like tips. Backward pointing hairs on edges. Smooth stems. Prostrate vegetative shoots, erect/ascending flower stems. Found on limestone. Short grassland, cliff-edges, scree, rocky ground. Locally frequent Co.Clare, Co.Galway and in NE Ireland.

     



Photographs above: Limestone Bedstraw. The Burren, Co.Clare. May 2008