Sunday, May 23, 2010

Bedstraw (Galium aparine)

Galium aparine is known by a wide variety of common names: Bedstraw, Cleavers, Stickywilly, Clivers, Goosegrass, Stickyweed, Catchweed, Robin-run-the-hedge and Coachweed. This plant has tiny hooked hairs on its stem and leaves that catch on clothes. The blooms are very small, less than one-quarter inch across and easy to miss if you’re not looking for them.

The plant may be straggly, particularly when the begin to bloom

The whorled leaf arrangement is characteristic

As the blooms develop

Flowers are very small. The hooked hairs are visible on the leaves

The fruit

Galium aparine is native to Eurasia and the United States. It grows throughout the United States and Canada,
Click on an image to view a larger image

Distribution Map:
- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Galium aparine (Stickywilly)
- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Galium aperine

Identification resources:
- Southeastern Flora: Bedstraw (Galium aparine)
- Native & Naturalized Plants of Georgia and the Carolinas. Galium aparine
- Missouri Plants: Galium aparine
- Wikipedia: Galium asparine

Related posts:
- 2010: Year Of The Wildflower
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2 comments:

  1. Suzi SmithMay 24, 2010 at 5:31 AM

    I've just spent half an hour pulling it off my dog... it gets worse later in the year when all the seed heads come off, lol!
    I remember fashioning nests for the birds out of it when I was a kid... i was sure they would use one of mine to save themselves the bother....

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  2. JSKMay 24, 2010 at 11:05 PM

    You'll have to forgive me. That's so funny. Not really. I knew they were sticky but have never had them stick to me and I don't have a dog. Cat's don't seem to wander through them.

    The ones I hate/dread/loathe are the Biden sp. (Cobbler's Pegs). They were the bane of our lives as kids in Australia and there's a species here that is just as bad in the Fall.

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