Cleavers
Galium aparine
King's American Dispensatory
COMMON NAMES: Cleavers, Goose-grass, Catch-weed, Bedstraw, etc.
Botanical Source.—Galium aparine is an annual, succulent plant, with a weak, procumbent, quadrangular, retrorsely-prickled stem, which grows from 2 to 6 feet long, and is hairy at the joints. The leaves are 1 or 2 inches in length, 2 or 3 lines in width, verticillate in sixes, sevens, or eights; linear; the flowers white, small, numerous and scattered. Calyx 4-toothed, corolla rotate and 4-parted, stamens 4 and short, styles 2. The fruit is large and bristly, with hooked prickles.
History, Description, and Chemical Composition.—This plant is common to Europe and the United States, growing in cultivated grounds, moist thickets, and along banks of rivers, and flowering from June to September. Its root consists of a few hair-like fibers, of a reddish color.
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—The infusion made with cold water is also considered very beneficial in removing freckles from the face, likewise lepra, and several other cutaneous eruptions; the diseased parts must be washed with it several times a day, and continued for 2 or 3 months in case of freckles.