Three-horned bedstraw

Galium tricornutum

An annual herb with a distinctive sticky feeling due to fine prickles on the stems and leaves. It has rings of 6-8 leaves that are hairless on the upper surface but has fine spines on the edges that are backward pointing near the base and forward pointing near the tip of the leaf. The small, white, 4 petalled flowers occur July to November and set minutely dimpled, paired, globular fruit that are usually in sets of three on short curved stalks. The stems are prostrate or scrambling and climbing, square in cross section with backward pointing prickles on the corners.