El Dorado bedstraw

Galium californicum ssp. sierrae

A hard-to-see low-growing perennial, El Dorado bedstraw dies back each year to the ground's surface. The plant grows in loose tufts of individual weak, slender stems which are three to eight inches long and it is covered by very short, straight hairs. The narrow leaves grow in sets of four around the stems. The small, pale yellow flowers are borne in clusters at the tips of the stems. This plant is known only from several sites scattered throughout the gabbro soils in western El Dorado County. It often grows in the understory of live oak or black oak woodlands, often on north facing slopes.

Back to rare plant page