MHG Volunteer Blog 28: Lady's bedstraw

It's time for the latest blog from our dedicated team of volunteer gardeners at Pontefract Castle.

Find out more about their blog series here.

Another 'clammy' day!

Kaiden watered the rosemary wall and all the pots. Caroline started on the weeding and tidying up the rhubarb. Louis chopped back the horehound.

A visitor from Nottingham, here for the Liquorice Festival, asked if she could have some of the horehound off-cuts. She was organising a dried flower arrangement to celebrate the 90th anniversary of her local church. We happily obliged and gave her as much as she needed. The clusters of flowers and seed heads along the stems make the horehound a striking plant. It will make a wonderfully unusual display!

Horehound clusters growing in the Medieval Herb Garden

Carole pricked-out some more seedlings, grown from seeds collected from the MHG last year. Today it was vervain, meadow sweet and more motherwort and angelica. After a week or so, they will go on sale on the plant barrow.

We still have some liquorice plants for sale on the barrow. However, all of the white cosmos was sold already at the weekend. 

After the usual flower-count, Carole spoke to some members of a school party from Bolton about "What is St. Anthony’s Fire actually?" and medieval herbs in general.

Plant of the Week - Lady's bedstraw (galium verum)

The common English name of this plant is 'Our Lady's Bedstraw'. It possibly comes from its medieval use for stuffing mattresses. The name could also come from the Christian legend that this was one of the 'Cradle Herbs', meaning it was in the hay in Jesus' manger at Bethlehem. Among its common names are: maid's hair, petty mugget, cheese rennet, bed flower, fenwort and hundredfold.

The genus 'Galium' comprises some 400 species of annual and perennial plants. It is related to cleavers, madder and sweet woodruff (which can also be found in the MHG). The species is self-fertile, being hermaphrodite (it has both male and female organs). It is pollinated by flies and beetles.

Lady's bedstraw growing in the Medieval Herb Garden

Lady's bedstraw is native to the UK. It is a low, scrambling, carpeting, herbaceous, deciduous, perennial. It will grow in full sun or part shade, in well-drained, alkaline or neutral soil. It has stems which can reach 4ft. It has shiny, dark green, linear leaves, up to 1 inch long and 0.1 inch wide. The leaves are borne in whorls of 8 to 12, often rooting where they touch the ground.

It flowers in mid-to-late summer, when it produces upright, stiff stems. It produces frothy, terminal panicles (loose branches) of dense clusters of tiny four-lobed yellow flowers. The flowers are about 0.1 inch in diameter. They are honey-scented, and smell like new mown hay when dried. However, the plant has an astringent, bitterish taste. 

Culinary uses of lady's bedstraw

Lady's bedstraw flowers were used to curdle milk in cheesemaking. They were particularly used to make Double Gloucester, which also took its colour from the plant. The leaves of the herb are edible and can be added to salads or cooked. Roasted seeds are considered a good substitute for coffee.

In Denmark, the plant (known locally as 'gul snerre') is traditionally used to infuse spirits, making the drink 'bjæsk'.

A non-alcoholic drink can also be made by grinding the plant up, leaving it to soak in fresh water for a few hours, before straining it to drink.

Folklore and other facts about lady's bedstraw

In Norse traditions, lady’s bedstraw is associated with Frigg, the goddess of marriage and childbirth. It was believed that placing lady's bedstraw in a woman's bed during labour would ease her delivery. They called it 'Frigg's grass'.

Historically, the plant was used to stuff mattresses and cover floors. This is due to its supposed ability to deter fleas. More recently, it was thought that the dried plant could be used against clothes moths.

A red dye can be made from the roots. A yellow dye can be made from the leaves and flowers.

It is an important food source for caterpillars of the broad-bordered bee hawk moth.

Fans of 'The Archers' may remember that a 2002 poll by Plantlife resulted in Lady’s Bedstraw being voted the County Flower of Borsetshire.

Medieval uses*

Lady's bedstraw has a long history of use in herbal medicine. A powder made from the plant was used to soothe reddened skin and reduce inflammation. The fresh plant was also used as a poultice on cuts, skin infections, slow-healing wounds, burns and scalds. It was also used for destroying kidney stones and to soothe tired feet. It was also believed to act as a sedative.

*As always, this isn't to be considered medical advice today. Please don't use any plants mentioned in these blogs as medicine without advice from a doctor.