Galium uliginosum Fen Bedstraw

A perennial bedstraw which is very similar to Marsh Bedstraw (Galium palustre) and sometimes confused with it. It differs in its thinner apiculate leaves with backward-pointing bristles along the edges and the obvious mucro (point) at the apex. It is a species of calcareous wetlands such as fens and marshy grasslands that have calcareous flushes. Although it is widespread in Britain it is usually quite local and it has declined greatly over the last century as a result of habitat loss. It is uncommmon in much of Wales and it is very rare in Glamorgan (VC41). In the Flora of Glamorgan, Wade, Kay and Ellis (1994) stated that there were no recent confirmed records of it in Glamorgan and cast doubt on earlier records which may have been misidentications. Since then there have been a number of reports of it from East Glamorgan and it was discovered in flushed, marshy grassland with Common Butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris), Marsh Lousewort (Pedicularis palustris), Marsh Valerian (Valeriana dioica) and Intermediate Hookmoss (Scorpidium cossonii) in Blaendulais by CH, BS and Hilary Hipkin in 2018. However it remains a rare and vulnerable species in Glamorgan where it is currently on the Rare Plant Register.

Native