Cleavers • Galium aparine
{Galium = from gala, meaning milk in Greek - because G. verum juice was used to curdle milk}
Identification
You will likely notice cleavers when you brush past it and it clings to your clothes, due to the bristles on its leaves and stem. This taprooted annual sprawls across the ground, or grows over or climbs other vegetation. Its thin, weak stem grows 20-100 cm long. The stem bears whorls of 6-8 leaves along its length. These leaves are 1-7 cm long, thin, and linear to oblong or lanceolate in shape. They have a rounded end with a sharp, bristle-like point, and have a single length-wise vein. Their edges are lined with backward-pointing bristles, and. Cleaver flowers are very small, green to greenish-white, and composed of four lobes. These flowers appear in small clusters, at the ends of stalks growing out from the leaf whorls.
Habitat & Range
This species grows on beaches, in fields and clearings, ditches, and open forest. It is weedy and is often found in disturbed areas. It can grow in shady or unshaded areas, but prefers moist, nitrogen-rich soil. It is a common species at low to middle elevations, and is found throughout much of North America. Cleavers is more restricted to seashores on the coasts of northern BC and Alaska. It is also found in Europe and Asia. There is some uncertainty as to whether it is native or was introduced from Europe and has naturalized.
Similar Species
Cleavers can easily be confused with sweet-scented bedstraw (Galium triflorum). They have similar leaves and flowers, and have a similar way of sprawling across the ground and other vegetation. Some key differences include: cleavers leaves tend to be thinner and in whorls of 6-8, whereas sweet-scented bedstraw leaves are wider, more elliptic than lance-shaped, and in whorls of 4-6. The rounded ends of cleaver leaves have a sharp, bristle-like point (awn-tipped). They both have bristly-edged leaves, but a close examination of the bristles should also help with identification - the bristles on cleavers leaves point backwards, and those of sweet-scented bedstraw point forward. Take a sniff of the leaves as well - if they smell like vanilla then you likely have sweet-scented bedstraw. There are small differences in the flowers too (number of flowers in clusters, size) but the flowers are so tiny and delicate that they may not be of any practical identification use.
Human Uses
This species was used by the Cowichan to remove pitch from hands and for starting fires. Lace-makers in Belgium once used the dry, bristly fruits for pin heads, and Scandinavian farmers used bunches of cleavers vegetation for filtering milk. Click here for more information on uses in Europe and Asia
Intriguing Info
'Cleavers' comes from the Anglo-Saxon and Dutch words for 'clinging' because of its tendency to cling to clothes. It also comes from the Old English word for claws, for the same reason.
iNaturalist
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53059-Galium-aparine
You will likely notice cleavers when you brush past it and it clings to your clothes, due to the bristles on its leaves and stem. This taprooted annual sprawls across the ground, or grows over or climbs other vegetation. Its thin, weak stem grows 20-100 cm long. The stem bears whorls of 6-8 leaves along its length. These leaves are 1-7 cm long, thin, and linear to oblong or lanceolate in shape. They have a rounded end with a sharp, bristle-like point, and have a single length-wise vein. Their edges are lined with backward-pointing bristles, and. Cleaver flowers are very small, green to greenish-white, and composed of four lobes. These flowers appear in small clusters, at the ends of stalks growing out from the leaf whorls.
Habitat & Range
This species grows on beaches, in fields and clearings, ditches, and open forest. It is weedy and is often found in disturbed areas. It can grow in shady or unshaded areas, but prefers moist, nitrogen-rich soil. It is a common species at low to middle elevations, and is found throughout much of North America. Cleavers is more restricted to seashores on the coasts of northern BC and Alaska. It is also found in Europe and Asia. There is some uncertainty as to whether it is native or was introduced from Europe and has naturalized.
Similar Species
Cleavers can easily be confused with sweet-scented bedstraw (Galium triflorum). They have similar leaves and flowers, and have a similar way of sprawling across the ground and other vegetation. Some key differences include: cleavers leaves tend to be thinner and in whorls of 6-8, whereas sweet-scented bedstraw leaves are wider, more elliptic than lance-shaped, and in whorls of 4-6. The rounded ends of cleaver leaves have a sharp, bristle-like point (awn-tipped). They both have bristly-edged leaves, but a close examination of the bristles should also help with identification - the bristles on cleavers leaves point backwards, and those of sweet-scented bedstraw point forward. Take a sniff of the leaves as well - if they smell like vanilla then you likely have sweet-scented bedstraw. There are small differences in the flowers too (number of flowers in clusters, size) but the flowers are so tiny and delicate that they may not be of any practical identification use.
Human Uses
This species was used by the Cowichan to remove pitch from hands and for starting fires. Lace-makers in Belgium once used the dry, bristly fruits for pin heads, and Scandinavian farmers used bunches of cleavers vegetation for filtering milk. Click here for more information on uses in Europe and Asia
Intriguing Info
'Cleavers' comes from the Anglo-Saxon and Dutch words for 'clinging' because of its tendency to cling to clothes. It also comes from the Old English word for claws, for the same reason.
iNaturalist
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53059-Galium-aparine
References
Douglas, G.W., Meidinger, D., and Pojar, J (Eds.). (2001). Illustrated flora of British Columbia. (Vol. 7). Victoria, BC: Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management and Ministry of Forests, Province of British Columbia. Pp. 370-383.
Galium aparine. L. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Ed.). E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Accessed 15/08/2013.
Galium triflorum Michx. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Ed.). E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Accessed 15/08/2013.
Pojar, J. and MacKinnon, A. (1994). Plants of Coastal British Columbia. Vancouver, BC: Lone Pine Publishing. P. 330.
Authors and editors of page
Kelly Fretwell, Ian Cruickshank, and Brian Starzomski (2013).
Douglas, G.W., Meidinger, D., and Pojar, J (Eds.). (2001). Illustrated flora of British Columbia. (Vol. 7). Victoria, BC: Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management and Ministry of Forests, Province of British Columbia. Pp. 370-383.
Galium aparine. L. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Ed.). E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Accessed 15/08/2013.
Galium triflorum Michx. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Ed.). E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Accessed 15/08/2013.
Pojar, J. and MacKinnon, A. (1994). Plants of Coastal British Columbia. Vancouver, BC: Lone Pine Publishing. P. 330.
Authors and editors of page
Kelly Fretwell, Ian Cruickshank, and Brian Starzomski (2013).