Marsh Bedstraw
Galium palustre
Marsh Bedstraw is a perennial herbaceous plant reaching heights of 10 to 60 centimeters. It is characterized by its square, often weak stems and leaves typically arranged in whorls of four. The small white flowers appear from June to August in loose, terminal or lateral panicles.
Details
Oxygen production
Low, as it grows primarily emersed.
Habitat function
Provides structure and hiding places for aquatic insect larvae and small amphibians.
Nutrient uptake
Moderate; extracts nitrogen and phosphate from the substrate.
Food source for
Food source for caterpillars of geometer moths and leaf beetles.
Human use
Historically used in folk medicine, today largely without economic use.
Ecology
Ecological role
Serves as a host plant for specialized insects and contributes to primary production in wetland habitats.
Natural predators
Insect larvae, various beetle species, and snails.
Competitor species
Other wetland plants such as sedges (Carex spp.) or Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria).
Ecosystem service
Stabilization of riparian zones and nutrient filtration in transition zones.
Threats
Drainage of wetlands, intensive agriculture, and eutrophication.
Scientific profile
Profile
Reproduction
Generative reproduction via seeds (dispersal by water or animals) and vegetative reproduction via creeping stolons that root at the nodes.
Protection & threats
Main threats
Threatened by the drainage of fens and wet meadows, intensive agricultural use of riparian buffer zones, and severe eutrophication.