Flowers, fruiting body, and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: RG & FJ Richardson, Fyasford, Vic

Plant. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: RG & FJ Richardson, Meredith, Vic

Plant. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: RG & FJ Richardson, Beechworth, Vic

Line drawings in Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 3: 259

Common Name

Goose Grass, Cleavers

Family

Rubiaceae

Notes

Introduced annual forb, sprawling, scrambling or twining, stems to 2m long. Back-pointing prickles on the stems, hooked hairs on the leaves. Leaves in whorls of 6-9, 1-8cm long, 2-10mm wide, flat, bristly, margins bristly hairy and slightly curved down, with pointed tips. Flowers small (less than 3mm across), white, with a very short tube and 4 'petals', in open clusters of 1-7 on stalks originating at the bases of the leaves or at the ends of the stems. Fruiting body densely covered with hooked hairs.

Description and photo in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales page 623

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Galium~aparine

Weeds of Australia Biosecurity Queensland description:  http://keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/03030800-0b07-490a-8d04-0605030c0f01/media/Html/Galium_aparine.htm