Galium saxatile

{{short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|name = Heath bedstraw

|image = Galium harcynicum detail.jpeg

|image_caption =

|genus = Galium

|species = saxatile

|authority = L.

|synonyms = Galium hercynicum Weigel

}}

Galium saxatile or heath bedstraw{{BSBI 2007 |access-date=2014-10-17 }} is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is related to cleavers.

Galium saxatile is a perennial mat-forming herb, found on grassland, moors, heaths and woods. It can reach a height of {{convert|20|cm}}, and flowers in the UK from May to August. The stems are hairless and four sided. Its leaves are {{convert|8|-|25|mm}} long, with 6–8 per whorl, and are lanceolate or obovate in shape. The mountain ringlet butterfly uses the plant for nectar.{{cite web |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/fff-pcp/glob.pl?report=Flora&Flora.%5bFloraNo%5d=279800 |title=Heath Bedstraw Galium saxatile |work=Postcode plants database|publisher=Natural History Museum |location=London |accessdate=19 August 2013}}[http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Galium%20saxatile.png Biota of North America Project]

Galium saxatile avoids calcareous substrate and mainly grows on light siliceous soils{{Cite journal |last=Tansley |first=A. G. |date=1917 |title=On Competition Between Galium Saxatile L. (G. Hercynicum Weig.) and Galium Sylvestre Poll. (G. Asperum Schreb.) On Different Types of Soil |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2255655 |journal=Journal of Ecology |volume=5 |issue=3/4 |pages=173–179 |doi=10.2307/2255655 |issn=0022-0477|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last=Mirek |first=Zbigniew |last2=Piękoś-Mirkowa |first2=Halina |date=1984 |title=Distribution and habitats of Galium saxatile L. in the Carpathian Mountains |url=https://pbsociety.org.pl/journals/index.php/asbp/article/view/asbp.1984.037 |journal=Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae |language=en-US |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=419–427 |doi=10.5586/asbp.1984.037 |issn=2083-9480|doi-access=free }} and is widespread across much of northern and central Europe from Portugal and Ireland to Scandinavia, France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and Russia. It is also reportedly sparingly naturalized in Quebec, California and the Falkland Islands.[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=87432 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families][http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/index1.php?scientific-name=galium+saxatile Altervista Flora Italiana]