What it is
Cleavers (Bedstraw) (Galium aparine) is in the Rubiaceae family. The sticky 'velcro plant' that clings to everything — a traditional spring tonic and lymphatic herb.
How to grow it
It wants part shade, water it moderate, and give it rich, moist soil. Target a soil pH around Adaptable. Expect roughly Spring. Cool-season annual.
How it's used
Cleavers (Bedstraw) is used: tea, juiced young; cooked.
🔎 How to identify it
- Whorls of narrow leaves around the stem
- Clinging hooked hairs
- Square sprawling stems
Edibility
PartsYoung shoots
UsesTea, juiced young; cooked
CautionBest very young; gets too bristly to eat raw later.
🌤 Before you plant: check the live 7-day garden weather to time it right for frost and heat.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.