Photographs: the Burren, Co. Clare

Limestone Bedstraw Galium sterneri Rú beag Family: Rubiaceae Flowering time: June-July. Perennial. Native. Broad panicles of small cream-white flowers with 4 petals are followed by hairless, warty fruit. Whorls of narrow oblong-linear leaves, broadest above middle, with pointed, bristle-like tips and backward pointing hairs on the edges. Smooth stems, the flower stems erect or ascending and prostrate vegetative shoots. Occurs on limestone grassland, cliff-edges, scree and rocky ground. Can be locally frequent on the Aran Islands and in Co.Clare and Co.Galway, also found in the north of Ireland.

Limestone Bedstraw, Galium sterneri, Rú beag