Galium aparine L.
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Galium aparine L.
RubiaceaeMadder FamilyNativeBedstrawCommon BedstrawCleaversGoose Grass |
April Photo
Plant Characteristics:
Annual, the stems weak, reclining or scrambling over other plants,
retrorsely hispid at the angles, hairy at the nodes, 1-10 dm. long, rather
slender; lvs. 6-8 in a whorl, mostly linear-oblanceolate, and 1.5-7 cm. long,
bristly-tipped, with coarse divergent or reflexed marginal setae and +/-
hispidulous on surfaces; fls. 2 mm. in diam., whitish, 2-5 in cymes in the upper
axils, the peduncles with a whorl of leaflike bracts; frs. bristly, 3-5 mm. in
diam., the bristles with tuberculate bases.
Habitat:
Common on shaded banks to ca. 7500 ft.; many Plant Communities;
cismontane Calif., Channel Ids., San Clemente and Catalina Ids., occasional on
deserts; to Alaska, e. Coast; said to be introduced from Eu.
March-July.
Name:
Greek, gala, milk, certain spp. being used to curdle milk.
(Munz, Flora So. Calif. 765).
Greek, aparine, bedstraw. (Jaeger
21).
General:
Occasional along shaded banks in the spring.
Photographed on the bluff above Back Bay Dr. between Big Canyon and
Eastbluff Dr., on the Castaway's Bluffs and on the path between North Star Beach
and Mariner's Dr. In 1993, a wet
year, G. aparine was very common on the bluffs around the
bay, it climbed above the Marah macrocarpus which itself
had covered the cactus and shrubby plants on the bluff.
(my comments). The
seeds may be roasted, ground, and used as a substitute for coffee, which they
distinctly resemble in flavor. This
is perhaps not surprising since this genus belongs in the same plant family as
true coffee. The plants have a
pleasant aroma when dried and were once used extensively for mattress stuffing,
hence the name of bedstraw. (Kirk
127). G. boreale and G. tinctorum
roots were used for a red dye. (Murphy
54). The
genus has been given the common name of Bedstraw because it was believed that
one of the species, G. verum, filled the manger of the infant Jesus.
(Dale 175).
An emetic was made from boiling the whole plant of the bedstraw or
cleavers, Galium aparine.
(Fielder 107).
This herb makes an excellent wash for the face to clear the complexion.
The herb has the quality of cooling or refrigerating the skin, thus being
valuable in fever cases where it is desired to reduce the temperature.
The juice of the leaves, applied to a bleeding wound, stops the bleeding.
The powder of the dried root, sprinkled on wounds, will tend to hasten
healing, and similar sprinkling on open ulcers has resulted in quick formation
of healing coverings. The juice of
the herb has been used to stop earaches, by dropping some of the oil into the
ear. Hot water poured on the dried
herb makes an infusion. The liquid
is then strained away and is then suitable for drinking.
The herb is reputed to dissolve bladder stones.
Use one ounce of the herb to a pint of hot water.
(Kadans 94).
The juice or a strong tea is good for bathing slowly healing burns,
ulcerated skin, inflamed stretch marks, or any suppurating skin conditions.
The value of the fluid extract in physiological doses for suspending or
modifying cancerous ulcers has had substantial clinical proving by homeopaths.
(Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West 57).
Galium aparine can be used as spinach.
it is excellent to cleanse the blood and strengthen the liver used in
this way. (Kloss 233).
The cold infusion will remove freckles when it is drunk two or three
times a day, for two or three months and the parts frequently washed with it.
(Hutchens 67). Perhaps native to Europe.
(Hickman, Ed. 982).
Text Ref:
Abrams, Vol. IV 28; Hickman, Ed. 982; Munz, Calif. Flora 1040;
Munz, Flora So. Calif. 765; Robbins et al. 409; Roberts 38.
Photo Ref:
Mar-April 83 # 8; April 6 83 # 17; Mar 1 85 # 2,3,4; April-May 85 # 5.
Identity: by R. De Ruff.
First Found: May 1983.
Computer Ref: Plant Data 270.
Have plant specimen.
Last edit 10/26/04.
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