Woodruff and Willie (Sweet and Sticky)

 I have been doing some weeding in my flower border as two plants are spreading and taking over.  They are both in the bedstraw family, so their scientific names start with Galium. They also have the same arrangement of leaves, in a whorl (circle) around the stem.

Woodruff on the left with flowers, Goosegrass on the right with no flowers.

Because they look quite similar, you have to be careful when weeding.  The one on the right is Goosegrass (Sticky Willie or Cleavers) (Galium aparine) and is a "weed" as it planted itself.  It is an annual and dies in the winter but it produces plenty of round seeds with tiny hooks on.  If you have a dog, you will know that they stick in the fur and have to be teased out. I went back in the garden to find a seed to photograph but as I write (mid June) the plants have not flowered yet, so no seeds.  This photo from a previous year shows the tiny white, 5 petalled flowers which emerge from the axils (where the leave meets the stem).

Flowering Goosegrass showing the hooks on the leaves and stem

Closeup of hooks on stem

The one on the left is Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum) which is already flowering.  It is perennial and comes up year after year. I planted this deliberately but it is taking over! It forms large patches by sending out rhizomes - white roots. I have read that it also has bristly seeds but I have never noticed that.  So that is two seeds to look out for and photograph.

Sweet Woodruff

Goosegrass

UPDATE: It is now mid July and there are seeds on the plants so I am posting a picture.  Much to my surprise, both of the seeds have plenty of hooks. The difference in size is just a feature of maturity.

Woodruff (on left) and Goosegrass (on right)

Bedstraws

There are several bedstraws coming into flower at the moment which all have white flowers. Heath Bedstraw (Galium saxatile) is low growing and will happily grow even in mown grass.  It has small white flowers with 4 petals.  You can see it on Newtonmore golf course alongside Heath Speedwell (Veronica officinalis), and there was plenty of it colonising the bare forestry track near Bridge of Truim.

Heath Bedstraw and Heath Speedwell

Heath Speedwell

Heath Bedstraw

Another Bedstraw is one you probably have in your garden, Galium aparine, which has several common names: Cleavers, Goosegrass, Sticky Willie.  It has rough stems and can scramble up any vegetation nearby.

Cleavers

On Station Road is yet another Bedstraw, Sweet Woodruff, which has probably escaped from the adjoining garden.  When dried, the leaves smell of new mown hay, and used to be put between linen to scent it. That new mown hay smell is due to a compound called coumarin.

Sweet Woodruff

Finally, for now, (there are more Bedstraws that come out later in the season) is Marsh Bedstraw (Galium palustre).  This has 5 petalled flowers and is rather slender and floppy.  It grows in damp places and there is some in the pond on the golf course.  The photo was taken in Kingussie in the woods under Creag Beag.

Marsh Bedstraw flower

Marsh Bedstraw