bedstraw
Galium aparine
Bedstraw is green and has a long stem, and it also has green leaves with leaflets that are long and round. The leaves and leaflets have small hook-like prickles that attach to humans and animals, similar to the brand Velcro. Sometimes, at the top of the stem, there is small white flowers. It can grow up to 3 feet, or 30 inches.
The plant grows near the ground, but in other words, it is limp-stemmed. You can find bedstraw in damp woods, swamps, and along stream banks and shores.
Bedstraw is edible, so you can eat some if you forget to pack your greens to a trip! The stem, leaves and flowers can be eaten, so you could nearly eat the entire thing! All types of bedstraw are edible. Bedstraw is sweet scented and it has no taste.
Bedstraw is used for medicine. It is used to cure Lymph tissue and cancer. The liquid on bedstraw helps tame the pain on minor burns and irritations.
If you ever go camping and you forgot to pack pillows, you can use bedstraw to stuff flexible bags, like a burlap sack. In that way, you can make it fluffier to sleep on. That is what the natives did, and they fell fast asleep.
Fun Facts! You can use Bedstraw for coffee with no caffeine! You can also use it for a permanent red dye!
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