It’s not a weed that’s coming up all over your garden and yard. It is Cleavers, Galium aparine, commonly known as Bedstraw, Goosegrass, Sticky Willie or Catchweed. It is believed that the bed of baby Jesus was stuffed with Bedstraw. This plant, which acts like a botanical Velcro, is an important and valuable herbal medicine.
It is sticky however, and it grows long and lanky with whorled leaves on long stems. It is a European native and is often found on roadsides, fields and in moist places. It returns every year in early spring to remind us to take our spring tonics and get our blood flowing smoothly and easily. Cleavers is a blood purifier and helps to cleanse the circulatory system after a sluggish winter season.
Cleavers can be eaten fresh in a spring salad and acts as a cooling herb, so it is helpful for fevers. Cleavers is known for relieving swollen lymph glands and skin disorders. I use the aerial parts of the plant as a urinary astringent for treating urinary and reproductive organ inflammations. Cleavers can also be useful in treating arthritis and as a poultice for burns and rashes.
Cleavers makes a pleasant tasting tea and now is the time to harvest it and tincture the fresh plant. Herbal tinctures made from fresh plant material are truly the most powerful medicines. Cleavers is also used cosmetically to clear the complexion, control dandruff and as a natural deodorant.
So the next time you want to yank this plant out of your garden, thinking that four letter word, remember all the valuable attributes of this common springtime green friend.
