Cleavers Plant Look Alike

The younger cleavers are the better.

Cleavers plant look alike. The plants become increasingly hair and fibrous as they age also the stems which make up most of the plant get woody. It is considered a diuretic so one should keep well hydrated if using this herb. The roots also grow mostly horizontally in contrast to the deep root systems of pepperweed and gumweed. This is a wonderful sticky prostate annual plant which often grows wild and prolifically against fences in hedgerows crop fields and beneath trees.

Indeed the real headache with goosegrass aka cleavers bedstraw stickywilly is cleaning it of debris. The following information is based on historical uses found in herbal lore. Fortunately many plants look like weed so don t get scared when you see such kind of plant in your backyard or any property that you own. In particular cleavers are in the bedstraw family.

There are upwards of 3 000 species in the rubiaceae family. As ever when harvesting from the wild you should use a good field guide be aware of look a like plants. To create this list i took into account each plant s toxicity growing range and degree of similarity to its edible look alikes. Galium aparine aparine from greek apairo απαίρω από from αίρω pull to lift lay hold of or seize with many common names including cleavers clivers bedstraw goosegrass catchweed stickyweed sticky bob stickybud stickyback robin run the hedge sticky willy sticky willow stickyjack stickeljack grip grass sticky grass bobby buttons and velcro.

Cleavers are in the rubiaceae family which consists of flowering plants in the coffee madder or bedstraw family. Other names that cleavers are known as include sticky willy stickybud stickyweed kisses and clivers. That s why i ve put together this list of the top 10 most dangerous plant look alikes. I think the most likely plant to be confused with cleavers galium aparine is sweet woodruff galium odoratum in the same family they have a similar whorl of leaves and small white flowers that appear in may but sweet woodruff has smooth slightly darker leaves that are a.

Check if the plant is actually a weed plant or not. And again this plant s flowers clearly distinguish it from the above mentioned look alikes. Nothing spoils a great day of wildcrafting like picking the wrong plant and ending up dead. Cleavers have a fresh green taste kind of like young peas with the pod and an element of grassiness and a mild herbal flavor.

It hates to let go of anything which means a ball of it makes a good sieve young tips raw or boiled 10 to 15 minutes make an excellent green and the seeds roasted are one of perhaps two plants that actually makes a coffee tasting coffee substitute without caffeine. The cleavers plant has a long history of use often utilized by herbalists as one of the primary blood and lymph system cleansing herbs. People who are fond of growing plants might face a situation where they witness similar looking plants.