Wildflower (forb) · Rubiaceae
Stiff marsh bedstraw
Galium tinctorium
Stiff marsh bedstraw is recorded as native to 27 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 971 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Stiff marsh bedstraw at a glance
- Native in
- 971 counties, across 27 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 10 in PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade High 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.
Stiff marsh bedstraw is recorded as native to 27 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 971 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 971 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 11 counties
- Arkansas 25 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 3 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 56 counties
- Georgia 20 counties
- Illinois 35 counties
- Indiana 34 counties
- Kentucky 35 counties
- Louisiana 62 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 64 counties
- Minnesota 33 counties
- Mississippi 20 counties
- Missouri 19 counties
- New Jersey 11 counties
- New York 43 counties
- North Carolina 83 counties
- Ohio 65 counties
- Pennsylvania 63 counties
- South Carolina 38 counties
- Tennessee 44 counties
- Texas 31 counties
- Virginia 74 counties
- West Virginia 24 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
- 10 in
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Decumbent
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 32 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.6 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Rubiaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- GATI
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 tinctorium (PLANTS symbol GATI).
- 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