Cleavers

Cleavers (Galium aparine) is a sprawling annual of hedgerows and disturbed ground. The stems are square and rough and their edges have backward-pointing bristles, as do all the surfaces of the leaves, and these bristles help the plant to gain traction and spread through the neighbouring vegetation, either horizontally or vertically. The bristles make Cleavers extremely clingy or sticky to the touch. They have tiny four-petalled white flowers. Usually the flowers are only just visible to the naked eye. The flowers develop into spiky coated seeds.

Identification from Collins complete guide to British wild flowers – a photographic guide to every common species by Paul Sterry 2006.