Common Cleavers

Galium aparine

Plant Data

Order:

Gentianales

Family:

Rubiaceae (Bedstraw)

Type:

Flower

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Flower:

White, 4 petals

Tiny, white, 4 petals, in branching clusters.

Fruit:

Green globular fruits covered in minute hooks which easily stick to animal fur and clothing. The fruit are called 'burrs'.

Leaves:

Sticky leaves which appear in whorls of 6 to 8, along the square stems. Leaflets have entire margins, are broader near the tips and end in a point or bristle. The leaflets also have stiff hairs along the margins.

Maximum Size:

150 centimetres tall

Foraging Notes:

The stems, leaves and flowers can all be eaten raw, however it's best eaten after being cooked. Roasted Cleaver seeds make a good coffee substitute. The leaves and stems when cooked can be used as a leaf vegetable, although the leaves are very sticky.
Never consume a wild plant unless you are 100% certain that it is safe to eat and you know that you have identified it correctly.

Aroma:

Honey-like fragrance.

Other Names:

Barweed, Bedstraw, Beggar Lice, Catchweed, Catchweed, Cliders, Cliders, Clithe, Clivers, Coachweed, Goosebill, Goosefoot, Grip Grass, Hariff, Kisses, Robin-run-the-hedge, Scratch Tongue, Stick-a-back, Stickeljack, Sticky Willow, Sticky Willy, Stickybud, Stickyjack, Stickyleaf, Stickyweed, Velcro Weed.

Frequency (UK):

Abundant

Habitats:

Gardens, hedgerows, wasteland, woodland.