Scientific name:
Galium aparine General: Weak, taprooted annual; stems sprawling, leafy, square with hooked bristles on the angles, 20-100 cm long or tall, tending to scramble over other vegetation.
Leaves: Whorls of 6-8, linear to oblong, 1-veined, bristly along the margin (bristles pointed backward), round-tipped but with a sharp point, 1-7 cm long.
Flowers: Whitish or greenish, small (1-2 mm wide); petals fused at base into a very short tube that spreads into 4 lobes; 3-5 in small, stalked clusters from the axils of leaf whorls.
Fruits: Dry, 2-lobed little burs covered with hooked bristles.
Ecology: Beaches, moist fields, clearings, ditches, open forest; on the north coast usually maritime, along seashores; more widespread southwards; common at low to middle elevations.