Galium verum Linnaeus
lady’s bedstraw
Europe, western Asia; introduced into North America
Though common over much of the British Isles and a herb much in favour in
other European countries, especially for its ability to staunch bleeding,Gal-
ium verum appears to have had no place in folk medicine in Britain and Ire-
land except as a veterinary one. However, its use persists in Berkshire,^5 if not
elsewhere, as a deterrent of moths, dried and placed in drawers.
Galium saxatile Linnaeus
heath bedstraw
western and central Europe, Newfoundland
The name llysiau’r eyr,shingles plant, reported from Cardiganshire and
attributed to woodruff (Galium odoratum) in the University of Wales dic-
tionary of the Welsh language,Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru,has been conclu-
sively established as G. saxatile: two informants, in Denbighshire and Angle-
sey, respectively, still using it today for shingles, pointed it out, thus enabling
the identification to be clinched by the National Museum of Wales.^6
Galium saxatilealso features in an Isle of Man list as a remedy used there for
nosebleeds,^7 which suggests that it shares the styptic property of lady’s bed-
straw; alternatively, the record may have been referred to the wrong species.
Galium aparine Linnaeus
cleavers, goosegrass, Robin-run-in-the-hedge, catchweed
Europe, northern and western Asia; introduced into North America
and elsewhere
The very common Galium aparine,largely scorned by learned medicine over
the years, has enjoyed an impressively diverse and widely scattered number of
uses in its folk counterpart, though none with any particular pre-eminence or
marked geographical clustering. Principally it has served as a spring tonic,
either on its own or mixed with nettles and/or other plants, with the tradi-
tional reputation of herbal tonics of cleansing the system of impurities
(Essex,^8 Norfolk,^9 Montgomeryshire^10 ) and for skin complaints such as pso-
riasis (Norfolk^11 ). A special use which may belong in that same category is to
counteract scurvy. After a Dublin hospital physician had published a note in
the British Medical Journal in 1883 reporting the beneficial effects of mullein
for tuberculosis patients, he received letters from ‘several parts’ of the British
Isles recommending him to test on his patients similarly the claims made for
goosegrass as a cure for chronic ulcers.^12 It is unclear whether that knowledge
268 Galium verum