Cleavers is an herbaceous annual in the bedstraw (coffee) family that is
also known by a variety of other common names that describe its growth
habit, such as Sticky Willy, Catch Weed and Grip Grass. In fact, the
plant is considered an invasive weed by many gardeners because it tends
to “run over” its neighbors by latching onto their stems with hooks and
eventually climbing over their tops.
If harvested before flowering, the young shoots are edible as a salad
herb. Like other members of the bedstraw family, cleavers was once used
as mattress stuffing. In ancient Greece, the hooked stems were used to
form a matrix through which to strain milk. In some parts of Europe,
this practice continues today.
Cleavers herb contains a number of active compounds, including phenolic
acids, coumarins, flavonoids and iridoid glycosides such as aucubin.
