Flora of Israel: Galium aparine (Cleavers)

Galium aparine, Cleavers, Clivers, Catchweed, Coachweed, Common Bedstraw, Catchweed, Goose Grass,

Stickywilly, Sweet Woodruff, Hebrew: דבקה זיפנית, Arabic: بلسكاء لُزيقة


Scientific name:		Galium aparine L.
Common name:		Cleavers, Clivers, Catchweed, Coachweed, Common Bedstraw, Catchweed, Goose Grass, Stickywilly, Sweet Woodruff
Hebrew name:		דבקה זיפנית
Arabic name:		بلسكاء لُزيقة
Family:		Rubiaceae, פואתיים

_{Location: Martha’s Backyard}


Life form:		Annual
Stems:		Trailing, 60-120 cm; square, short bristly downward pointing hooks at corners
Leaves:		Whorled; entire; smooth margin
Inflorescence:		Usually 3-flowered, stalked clusters in junction of upper leaves
Flowers:		White, hermaphrodite, 4-petalled tubes
Fruits / pods:		Twin, fused, globe-shaped, covered with numerous hairs hooked at tip
Flowering Period:		March, April
Habitat:		Mediterranean maquis and forest
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Euro-Siberian – Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

_{Location: Martha’s Backyard}
Derivation of the botanical name:

Galium from Greek word gala, “milk,” and alluding to the fact that certain species were used to curdle milk.

aparine, Greek name for the plant called cleavers.

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

The root is a permanent red dye.

_{Location: Martha’s Backyard}