Galium album Hedge Bedstraw

A rhizomatous perennial which often forms large, bushy clones in dry, usually calcareous grasslands and increasingly in roadside verges and waste places. Unlike Cleavers (Galium aparine), it usually has downy stems and bears branched inflorescences which flower prolifically and produce tiny, hairless fruits.  From a distance, large plants covered in flowers can look like white foam. It is widely distributed and common in many parts of Briatin but until relatively recently was uncommmon in West Glamorgan with just a few records from Gower and Neath Port Talbot. However, it has become much more common in coastal roadside verges in recent years, probably originating from wild flowers introductions along with tall, continental forms of Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum) with which it often occurs. It is strikingly abundant in the verges along Harbour Way in Margam, Port Talbot. 

Some local populations may be descendents of native stock but many are derived from introductions.