Vine · Rubiaceae
Threepetal bedstraw
Galium trifidum · includes its varieties and subspecies
Threepetal bedstraw is recorded as native to 28 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 529 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Threepetal bedstraw at a glance
- Native in
- 529 counties, across 28 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 10 in PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Threepetal bedstraw is recorded as native to 28 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 529 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 529 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alaska 23 counties
- Arizona 3 counties
- California 42 counties
- Colorado 21 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Idaho 18 counties
- Illinois 11 counties
- Indiana 10 counties
- Iowa 1 county
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 40 counties
- Minnesota 41 counties
- Montana 14 counties
- Nebraska 24 counties
- Nevada 6 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Mexico 6 counties
- New York 33 counties
- North Dakota 29 counties
- Ohio 10 counties
- Oregon 31 counties
- South Dakota 4 counties
- Utah 20 counties
- Vermont 14 counties
- Washington 28 counties
- Wisconsin 47 counties
- Wyoming 14 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, Vine
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 10 in
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Decumbent
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 16 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.6 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 80
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Early Summer
- 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
- GATR2
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 trifidum (PLANTS symbol GATR2), including 2 varieties and subspecies folded into the species.
- 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