Low native perennial with bright yellow flowers from July to September. Sunny or partly shaded sites.
Other Names: Robin-run-the-Hedge, Maiden's Hair, Strawbed, Cheese Rennet, Cheese Running
Distribution: Native perennial across theUKon grassland or waste ground often near the sea.
Habitat: Short grassland and hedgebanks in sunny sites or partly shaded sites.
Description: Low growing, spreading groundcover plant. The bright yellow flowers are lightly honey-scented and appear between July and September.
Uses: The plant got its common name from the mediaeval legend that the Virgin Mary lay on a bed of Lady's Bedstraw at the inn inBethlehembecause the donkeys had eaten all the other fodder in the stable. It also led to the belief that a woman lying on a bed of Lady's Bedstraw would have a safe and easy childbirth. The yellow flowers were once used in the North ofEnglandfor curdling milk. The leaves and stems produce a yellow dye and the roots produce a red dye. Herbalists claimed that the plant was a remedy for urinary diseases, epilepsy & gout. It contains a chemical, coumarin, which when made into the drug dicoumarol will prevent blood from clotting.
Wildlife: Source of food for the caterpillars of the Elephant Hawk, Galium Carpet, Plain Wave & Riband Wave, Bedstraw Hawk, Archer's Dart and Red Chestnut Moths.
Our plants and seeds are of native British origin.
