Galium hypocarpium(L.) Endl. ex Griseb.

WFO wfo-0000969185 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Galium hypocarpium, photographed by Matias Cabezas
fig. a Matias Cabezas, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-04-30 / obs. 192596810
Galium hypocarpium, photographed by Steven Bodzin
fig. b Steven Bodzin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 180872535
Galium hypocarpium, photographed by Nolan Exe
fig. c Nolan Exe, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 183986597
Galium hypocarpium, photographed by Manuel Roncal
fig. d Manuel Roncal, CC0 1.0 / obs. 176367843
Galium hypocarpium, photographed by Nicolás Lavandero
fig. e Nicolás Lavandero, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 179204735
Galium hypocarpium, photographed by Bruno Avilez
fig. f Bruno Avilez, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 172769963
Galium hypocarpium, photographed by Cesar Ormazabal
fig. g Cesar Ormazabal, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195807397
Galium hypocarpium, photographed by Nicolás Villaseca Merino
fig. h Nicolás Villaseca Merino, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 153104201

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 31 botanical countries

Regions where Galium hypocarpium is native: Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela Mexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestArgentina SouthBoliviaBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralChile CentralChile NorthChile SouthColombiaCosta RicaDominican RepublicEcuadorGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruUruguayVenezuela
Native distribution of Galium hypocarpium, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Argentina South AGS
Bolivia BOL
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Chile Central CLC
Chile North CLN
Chile South CLS
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,033 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 1.3 °C 7.7 °C 13.3 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 12.2 °C 19.2 °C 26.9 °C
Annual rainfall 968 mm 1,852 mm 3,356 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 49 mm 211 mm 491 mm

It is found where winters are cool but frost is light or absent. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,033 research-grade observations of Galium hypocarpium that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 59 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Galium albicans Wedd.
  • Galium brasiliense Wawra
  • Galium chloranthum Krause
  • Galium croceum Ruiz & Pav.
  • Galium fluminense Vell.
  • Galium gardneri Walp.
  • Galium hypocarpium subsp. gracillimum (Ehrend.) Dempster
  • Galium hypocarpium subsp. indecorum (Cham. & Schltdl.) Dempster
  • Galium orinocense (Kunth) Spreng.
  • Galium ovale Ruiz & Pav.
  • Galium pauciflorum Willd. ex K.Schum.
  • Galium pauciflorum Willd. ex DC.
  • Galium quitense Wedd.
  • Galium relbun (Cham. & Schltdl.) Clos
  • Galium repugnans Kunze ex Poepp.
  • Galium rupestre (Gardner) Walp.
  • Relbunium bangii Rusby
  • Relbunium buxifolium K.Schum.
  • Relbunium buxifolium f. microphylla K.Schum.
  • Relbunium croceum (Ruiz & Pav.) K.Schum.
  • Relbunium glaberrimum Standl.
  • Relbunium gracillimum Ehrend.
  • Relbunium hypocarpium (L.) Hemsl.
  • Relbunium hypocarpium subsp. alluviale Ehrend.

and 35 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.