Identification
This native annual has reclining, sprawling stems 6 feet and longer. The slender leaves, up to 3 inches long, are usually in whorls of 8 (A,C). The tiny white flowers are found on short stalks from the leaf axils by early May (B). The fruit is a pair of round, hairy orbs (D). By mid-June many of these plants turn a reddish-purple (E). The entire plant is bristly and usually forms dense tangles later in the season. The bedstraws are not that easy to identify but this species is our by far our most common one. See comments section for details on ID.
Abundant on both floodplain and upland woods at Fontenelle Forest and Neale Woods. Flowering occurs in May and June.
By far the most common of our 5 bedstraws, it is the only one with whorls of 8 leaves. Less common Sweet-scented Bedstraw (Galium triflorum), usually has whorls of 6 broader leaves while Cross Cleavers (Galium circaezens) has whorls of 4. Both also tend to flower later in the season (mid-June, July). Neither of the other two other rare species, Bluntleaf Bedstraw (Galium obtusum) or Shining Bedstraw (Galium concinnum) has as many as 8 leaves in a whorl.
Its propensity to attach itself to clothing or anything that passes by has prompted the rather colorful alternate common name of Sticky-Willy. Cleavers is another alternate name.
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