A N F Keys
1 Flowers solitary or in cymes; corollas dishlike (rotate), greenish white, cream-colored, rose, to yellowish .. Galium
1' Flowers in headlike cymes within a leafy involucre; corollas trumpet-shaped, lavender or light to moderate purplish pink .. Sherardia arvensis [pics]
1 Annuals with taproots; leaves (including leaflike stipules) 6 or 8; flowers bisexual, each forming mericarps (nutlets) typically having hooked bristle-hairs
2 Blades (4−)13−45 mm long, with downward-projected, hooked prickles; flowers 2.2−3 mm across, with whitish perianth; pedicels in fruit several−15 mm long; mericarps 2.2−2.8 mm long with bristles to 0.6 mm long .. Galium aparine [pics]
2' Blades 3.5−9 mm long, with upward-projected, hooked prickles; flowers ± 1 mm across, with greenish to yellowish green perianth; pedicels in fruit to 2 mm long; mericarps ca. 1 mm long with short, whitish, hooked bristles (rarely absent) .. Galium parisiense [pics]
1' Perennials; leaves (including leaflike stipules) mostly 4; flowers functionally unisexual, pistillate flower forming mericarps (nutlets) lacking hooked bristle-hairs; perianth lobes yellowish green, greenish yellow, or yellowish
3 Plants forming a low, compact, mosslike mat; blades mostly awl-shaped with bristle tip, 3−3.5 × 0.3−0.6 mm .. Galium andrewsii subsp. intermedium [pics]
3' Plants not compact, with spreading to ascending, weak-stemmed branchlets; blades mostly lanceolate to oblanceolate, elliptic or ovate (not awl-shaped), mostly > 0.6 mm wide
4 Shrubs or subshrubs; shoots not noticeably scabrous, lacking curved prickle-hairs, stems densely puberulent with firms hairs; nutlets densely covered with radiating, bristlelike hairs to 1.5 mm long .. Galium angustifolium subsp. angustifolium [pics]
4' Mostly herbaceous but slightly woody at base; shoots scabrous or somewhat so, having backward-curved, sharp prickle-hairs along stem ridges and blade margins, stems lacking short hairs; nutlets glabrous and fleshy
5 Climbing and clambering over other plants; blades narrowly obovate to narrowly lanceolate 0.7−5 × 0.6−1.8 mm but appearing narrower and linear when inrolled, surfaces dull, with curved prickle-hairs along lower midrib .. Galium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii [pics]
5' Perennial herb generally not climbing; blades ovate to elliptic, 7−16 × 2.5−6 mm, flat (not inrolled), surfaces somewhat glossy, lacking curved prickle-hairs along lower midrib .. Galium cliftonsmithii
NB. Galium californicum Hooker & Arnott subsp. flaccidum (Greene) Dempster & Stebbins was reported once from Stokes Canyon (SMM), and could occur in range. This plant produces blades like G. cliftonsmithii but instead has pubescent stems, leaves, ovaries, and fruits, and also has curved prickle-hairs along the lower midrib. Plants identified previously as G. porrigens Dempster in Griffith Park do not appear distinct from G. nuttallii subsp. nuttallii. It has been suggested that G. angustifolium A. Gray subsp. foliosum (Hilend & J. T. Howell) Dempster & Stebbins, a taxon of the California Islands, may occur in range within the westernmost coastal zone, and it may, but a definitive sample to date has not been recorded.
The text of the above keys used with permission from
A Naturalist's Flora of the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills, California
© Copyright
Barry A. Prigge and Arthur C. Gibson
2013