Perennial herb with a creeping rhizome 20 cm - 0.5 m tall
Leaves: in whorls of four to six, 5 mm - 2 cm long, linear to narrowly elliptic with a blunt tip, one-veined, often roughly hairy along the margins and sometimes on the midrib beneath.
Flowers: mostly in two's or three's, on 2 - 4 mm long straight stalks, whitish, 1 - 1.5 mm wide, more or less flat and circular in outline, with three short, blunt lobes. Stamens four, shorter than corolla. Styles two, short.
Fruit: dry, indehiscent, 1 - 2 mm long, spherical, paired, separating when ripe, one-seeded.
Stems: numerous, weak, often scrambling over other plants, slender, four-angled, often much branched, roughly hairy on the angles or essentially hairless.
Similar species: No information at this time.
Flowering: late June to early October
Habitat and ecology: Woods, marshes, roadside ditches, and other wet areas.
Occurence in the Chicago region: native
Etymology: Galium comes from the Greek word gala, meaning milk, referring to the plants that are used to curdle milk. Tinctorium means "used for dyeing."
Author: The Morton Arboretum
