Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Galium nuttallii is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the common names San Diego bedstraw and climbing bedstraw. It is native to the coast and coastal mountain ranges of southern California and Baja California, where it is a member of chaparral and pine woodland plant communities. This is a climbing perennial herb producing a woody base and sprawling with thin, tanging green to red branches up to 1.5 meters long. The stems have whorls of four tiny sharp-pointed leaves at intervals, each leaf under a centimeter long. The plant is dioecious, with male and female individuals bearing different flower types. Both flowers are reddish in color and the female flower ovary turns into a berry.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

5 ft Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Red

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Site type

Groves of and Catalina Ironwood trees

Plant communities

Chaparral

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

1 confirmed and 6 likely

Confirmed Likely

Zenophleps lignicolorata

Epirrhoe plebeculata

Gray Pug

Eupithecia subfuscata