PLANTS: Dioecious shrub, the herbage more or less densely hairy.

LEAVES: 4 at nodes, sharp.

FLOWERS: in diffuse leafy panicles; corollas rotate.

FRUIT: densely covered with white silky straight hairs. 2n = 22, 44, 88.

REFERENCES: Dempster, Lauramay T. 1995. Rubiaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Sci. 29(l): 29.

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Perennial forb to subshrub, dioecious 20-50 cm tall, with intricately branched, woody stems, with pale gray shreddy bark, younger branches 4-angled, scabrid along angles, densely puberulent with short, spreading, simple hairs.

Leaves: Whorled, 4 per node, sharp, lanceolate to needle-shaped, 4-17 mm long, rigid, pale gray-green , scaberulous-puberulent, prominent white midvein.

Flowers: Dense to diffuse panicles, many-flowered, pedicels straight, 2-3 mm long in fruit; corolla greenish yellow, white, apices blunt or a little elongated, lobes ovate, sparsely hirsutulous.

Fruits: Twin fruit, densely covered with white silky straight hairs.

Ecology: Found on dry, rocky desert slopes, along arroyos, rock crevices in canyons, and along sandy washes or talus slopes from 1,000-4,000 ft (305-1219 m); flowers February-June.

Distribution: s UT and NV, AZ, s CA; Baja Calif., MEX

Notes: Our is var. eremicum. This description describes that variety. Other distinguishing features are the soft, straight hairs on its nutlets, and being woody above the base.

Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genera have uses.

Etymology: Galium is from the Greek word gala, milk, an allusion to the fact some species are used to curdle milk, while stellatum means starry, or starlike.

Synonyms: None

Editor: SBuckley, 2010