Northern Bedstraw
Galium boreale
Pollinator plant

(c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Douglas Goldman
Growing it
| When | Flowers June to August |
|---|---|
| Type | wildflower |
| Sun | Partial shade, full shade |
| Water | Low, medium |
| Soil | pH 5.5–7.5 |
| Hardiness | zone 2–7 |
| Mature height | 0.5 m |
| Mature spread | 0.3 m |
| Spacing | 0.2 m |
| Years to maturity | 2 |
| Bloom | Jun–Aug |
| Flower colour | White read from a published flora |
| In bloom | June July August |
| Native to | AB, SK |
narrow linear leaves about 3 cm long
Where it has been recorded
Which ecoregions the records fall in
- Aspen Parkland central AB / SK: 1493 records, high confidence
- Fescue Grassland south AB: 595 records, high confidence
- Northern Continental Divide south AB: 482 records, high confidence
- Moist Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 422 records, high confidence
- Western Alberta Upland central AB: 288 records, high confidence
- Boreal Transition central AB / SK: 277 records, high confidence
- Eastern Continental Ranges central AB: 188 records, high confidence
- Cypress Upland south AB / SK: 178 records, high confidence
- Mid-Boreal Uplands central AB / SK: 175 records, high confidence
- Peace Lowland north AB: 77 records, high confidence
- Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 73 records, high confidence
- Wabasca Lowland north AB: 26 records, high confidence
- Slave River Lowland north AB: 18 records, medium confidence
- Western Boreal central AB: 8 records, medium confidence
- Clear Hills Upland north AB: 3 records, low confidence
These are counts of records collected somewhere in the region, which is the resolution of the evidence: the map above shows where inside it. A region with 3 records is not the same claim as one with three hundred, so the count travels with the region. A region missing from this list means nobody has recorded it there, which is not the same as the plant being absent. Records within 900 m of a border count for neither side, because the border is not drawn finely enough to say which one they are on. Source: GBIF occurrence search + PRESERVED_SPECIMEN pass, retrieved 2026-08-24. Boundaries digitised from the National Ecological Framework for Canada v2.2 (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995), simplified to about 900 m for display: an outline is accurate to roughly a kilometre, not to the metre. How these counts are made.
See every observation, live and current, on GBIF or iNaturalist.
Documented animals
13 documented relationships.
nectar for
- Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Drasteria hudsonica Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Halictus confusus Clint Otto et al. 2020
- Hunt's Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Melissa Blue Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Northern Azure Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Northern Crescent Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Silvery Blue Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
pollen for
- Eupeodes latifasciatus Guzman et al. 2022
- Euphilotes battoides Clements & F. L. Long 1923
- Platycheirus stegnus Guzman et al. 2022
- Toxomerus occidentalis Guzman et al. 2022
caterpillar host for
- Liriomyza galiivora Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Also worth knowing
Safety
Toxicity not assessed, absence of a warning is not a guarantee of safety
Buying it
About $8–$16 per plant (estimate), usually from a native-plant nursery. Estimate (herb default); AB retail as of 2026
Where these numbers came from
- Flower detail: not verified, a genus-level estimate