bedstraw
a rubiaceous plant, Galium verum, or some allied species, formerly used as straw for stuffing mattresses.
Origin of bedstraw
1Words Nearby bedstraw
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use bedstraw in a sentence
Here a few grass-blades, there a tiny plant of Sandwort, possibly a Rock bedstraw, begin to root themselves in the moss.
The Romance of Plant Life | G. F. Scott ElliotThree of the four belong to the bedstraw genus (Galium), in which the corolla is wheel-shaped.
Field and Woodland Plants | William S. FurneauxIt feeds on vine (Vitis vinifera) and yellow bedstraw (Galium verum); also on fuchsia and virginia-creeper (Ampelopsis).
The Moths of the British Isles, First Series | Richard SouthIts greenish eggs are laid on bedstraw, and in July and August the caterpillars may be found on the same kind of plant.
The Moths of the British Isles, First Series | Richard SouthIt feeds, at night, in August and September, on bedstraw growing in dry places.
The Moths of the British Isles, First Series | Richard South
British Dictionary definitions for bedstraw
/ (ˈbɛdˌstrɔː) /
any of numerous rubiaceous plants of the genus Galium, which have small white or yellow flowers and prickly or hairy fruits: some species formerly used as straw for beds as they are aromatic when dry: See also lady's bedstraw
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse