Wildflower (forb) · Rubiaceae
Rough bedstraw
Galium asprellum
Rough bedstraw is recorded as native to 14 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 390 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Rough bedstraw at a glance
- Native in
- 390 counties, across 14 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 5.9 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Rough bedstraw is recorded as native to 14 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 390 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 390 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Illinois 12 counties
- Indiana 24 counties
- Massachusetts 12 counties
- Michigan 60 counties
- Minnesota 27 counties
- New York 35 counties
- North Carolina 5 counties
- Ohio 38 counties
- Pennsylvania 64 counties
- Tennessee 2 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 19 counties
- West Virginia 16 counties
- Wisconsin 63 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 5.9 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Prostrate
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 50 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 14 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Not recorded
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Indeterminate
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Rubiaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- GAAS2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Galium asprellum (PLANTS symbol GAAS2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources