bedstraw

bed·straw  (bdstrô)

n.

Any of several weedy or ornamental plants of the genus Galium, having whorled leaves, clusters of small white or yellow flowers, and prickly stems. Also called cleavers.

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[Short for Our Lady's Bedstraw, name for a plant of the genus Galium, whose foliage was used to stuff mattresses in medieval times.]

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bedstraw

Noun

a plant with small white or yellow flowers

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

bedstraw - any of several plants of the genus Galium herb, herbaceous plant - a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests Galium, genus Galium - annual or perennial herbs: bedstraw; cleavers Asperula odorata, fragrant bedstraw, Galium odoratum, sweet woodruff, waldmeister, woodruff - Old World fragrant stoloniferous perennial having small white flowers and narrow leaves used as flavoring and in sachets; widely cultivated as a ground cover; in some classifications placed in genus Asperula Galium boreale, Northern bedstraw, Northern snow bedstraw - North American stoloniferous perennial having white flowers; sometimes used as an ornamental Galium verum, Our Lady's bedstraw, yellow bedstraw, yellow cleavers - common yellow-flowered perennial bedstraw; North America and Europe and Asia Galium lanceolatum, wild licorice - bedstraw with sweetish roots catchweed, cleavers, clivers, Galium aparine, goose grass, spring cleavers - annual having the stem beset with curved prickles; North America and Europe and Asia false baby's breath, Galium mollugo, infant's-breath, white bedstraw, white madder, wild madder - Eurasian herb with ample panicles of small white flowers; naturalized in North America