Identification
This native annual has reclining, sprawling stems 6 feet and longer. 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). Leaves and stem are covered with hooked hairs readily attaching to anything that comes in contact; hence the alternate common name Sticky-Willy. Adjacent plants also stick to each other, often forming dense bedstraw tangles.
Of our five species of bedstraw, this is the most common. It is the only one with 8 leaves in each whorl. See comments section for more details.
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). Shining Bedstraw (Galium concinnum), an uncommon species at FF and NW and the rarely seen Bluntleaf Bedstraw (Galium obtusum) have fewer than 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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