Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Galium aparine
Common name
Goose grass, Cleavers
Family
Rubiaceae
Where found
Forest, woodland, grassy areas, gardens, disturbed sites, and moist areas. Widespread. Rare on the tablelands south of the Hume Highway and Kosciuszko National Park.
Notes
Introduced annual herb, sprawling, scrambling or twining, stems to 2m long. Stems 4-angled, with backward-pointing tiny prickles on the stems, making them rough. Leaves and 'seeds' covered with hooked hairs. 'Seeds', leaf margins, and stems stick to clothing. Leaves and leaf-like stipules in whorls of 6-9, 1-8 cm long, 2-10 mm wide, bristly with scattered hooked hairs, margins slightly curved down, tips blunt with a short point. Flowers 1-2 mm in diameter, with 4 white petals fused together near their bases, in clusters of 1-7 flowers. Flowers Winter to Summer. 'Seeds' 3 –5 mm long, densely covered with hooked hairs.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Galium~aparine (accessed 22 January, 2021)
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