Species Galium glabrum

Gk. galion = bedstraw, from gala = milk; referring to the flowers of G. verum, lady’s bedstraw. This plant was, in the past, used to curdle milk and is still used to colour cheese (Don Perrin). insects and plants to Linnaeus and others. His support of England in the American Revolutionary War resulted in the confiscation of his property. The plant name assigned to him by Linnaeus is a South African genus, although he never visited South Africa. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of London (1773), a founder Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1783) and on his return to England became the Royal Society’s vice-president.