Galium aparine, with common names including cleavers, clivers, catchweed, robin-run-the-hedge, goosegrass, and sticky willy, is an annual, herbaceous plant of the family Rubiaceae.

It means 'clinging' or 'seizing',[7] and is derived from the Greek απαίρω apairo 'lay hold of, seize', itself coming from από 'from' + αίρω 'pull to lift'.

[17] The species is native to a wide region of Europe, North Africa and Asia from Britain and the Canary Islands to Japan.

[19][20] The plant can be found growing in hedges and waste places, limestone scree and as a garden weed.

The anthraquinone aldehyde nordamnacanthal (1,3-dihydroxy-anthraquinone-2-al) present in G. aparine has an antifeedant activity against Spodoptera litura, the Oriental leafworm moth, a species which is considered an agricultural pest.

[9] However, the numerous small hooks which cover the plant and give it its clinging nature can make it less palatable if eaten raw.

[10][29] Poultices and washes made from cleavers were traditionally used to treat a variety of skin ailments, light wounds and burns.

Dioscorides reported that ancient Greek shepherds would use the barbed stems of cleavers to make a "rough sieve", which could be used to strain milk.

Several of the bedstraws were used for this purpose because the clinging hairs cause the branches to stick together, which enables the mattress filling to maintain a uniform thickness.