Galium aperine / Cleavers Herb

Galium aparine, with many common names including cleavers, clivers, “bort”, bedstraw, goosegrass, catchweed, stickyweed, robin-run-the-hedge, sticky willow, stickyjack, stickeljack, and grip grass, is a herbaceous annual plant of the family Rubiaceae.

The species is native to a wide region of Europe, North Africa and Asia from Britain and the Canary Islands to Japan. It is now naturalized throughout most of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, some oceanic islands and scattered locations in Africa. It is considered a noxious weed in many places.

For some people, skin contact with Galium aparine causes an unpleasant localized rash known as contact dermatitis.