Speckled Wood butterfly on Sweet Woodruff.

Sweet Woodruff, Galium odoratum, is one of my favourite plants. It is a British native and grows in old woodland and on hedge banks on chalky soils (see distribution map). We have planted it in our back garden and under ash trees in Grapes Hill Community Garden in Norwich.

Sweet Woodruff is very tolerant of shade and, once established, copes well with fairly shallow tree roots. In more open conditions it can be a bit invasive but it is easily pulled up and I’ve never found it to be a problem, though there are some negative comments about the plant on the American Dave’s Garden website. It forms a weed-suppressing mat and is a good companion for spring bulbs such as Snowdrops as it will disguise their foliage as it dies back in late spring.

Sweet Woodruff is a very pretty plant, with whorls of light leaves that stay green all year in milder parts of the country and, in May, lots of tiny white flowers. The plant is a member of the Bedstraw Family, Rubiaceae. The “Sweet” part of the English name refers to its dried leaves, which have the smell of new-mown hay (and Richard Mabey in “Flora Britannica” detects a hint of almond in older dried leaves). They were hung in wardrobes to deter moths and impart their pleasant scent and used in pot-pourris and herb pillows.

Other names for the plant also refer to this smell: Sweet-scented Bedstraw, Hay Plant and Sweet Grass, as well as the “odoratum” part of the scientific name. “Our Lady’s Lace” is an apt description of the plant when it is in flower.

The Plants for a Future website gives a variety of other uses for the plant. The leaves can be made into a tea or soaked in wine, a red dye can be obtained from its roots and the coumarins which give the plant its pleasant smell have anti-coagulant properties, preventing blood clotting.

Leaves and flower buds of Sweet Woodruff with Greater Woodrush (Luzula sylvatica) and Primroses, in Grapes Hill Community Garden.