Galium verum subsp. asiaticum var. asiaticum f. lacteum ("Kawaramatsuba")

Japanese name: カワラマツバ （河原松葉）
Scientific name: Galium verum subsp. asiaticum var. asiaticum f. lacteum

[Overview]
A perennial 30–80 cm tall, found on sunny, dry riverbeds and grasslands.
The stems and leaves have soft hairs.
The stem is hard, erect, and round in cross section.
The leaves are linear, 2–3 cm long and 0.1–0.3 cm wide, and grow in whorls of 8–10.
The leaf margins curl slightly toward the underside, and the tip has a short spine.
Of the whorled leaves, only the two opposite ones are true leaves; the others are stipules of the same shape.
Paniculate cymes at the leaf axils and stem tips bear many flowers.
The flowers are 0.2 cm across and white, with a 4-lobed corolla.
The fruit is 0.1 cm across and hairless.

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