Galium spurium, the stickwilly or false cleavers, is a plant species of the Rubiaceae. It is widespread across Europe, Asia, Africa and Canada, and is naturalized in Australia.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Moss, E. H. 1983. Flora of Alberta (ed. 2) i–xii, 1–687. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. It is considered a noxious weed in many places.Wenming Zhang & K. L. Bailey. 2000. Biological Control of Cleavers (Galium spurium and G. aparine) with Pathogenic Fungi - Exploration and Discovery. Proceedings of the X International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds 4-14 July 1999, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana USA Neal R. Spencer (ed.). pp. 117-123
Galium spurium is an erect or reclining herb up to 50 cm tall. Stems are square in cross-section. Leaves are in whorls of 6–8, narrowly lanceolate. Flowers are in multi-flowered cymes or panicles, white or yellow-green.
Subspecies Many varietal and subspecific names have been proposed, but at present (May 2014) only 3 are recognized:
Galium spurium subsp. africanum Verdc. - mountains of tropical and southern Africa; also Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Socotra Galium spurium subsp. ibicinum (Boiss. & Hausskn.) Ehrend. - Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan Galium spurium subsp. spurium - widespread
References
External links
Impact and control in Australia line drawing for Flora of Pakistan Plants for a Future NatureGate, Luonotoportti (Helsinki), false cleavers Tela Botanica, Gaillet bâtard Floraweb, Galium spurium L., Kleinfrüchtiges Kletten-Labkraut