Bedstraw

Galium spp.

There are a number of Galium species that are referred to more broadly as bedstraw plants. Galium aparine is also commonly known as cleavers and Galium tricornutum as three-horned bedstraw or rough corn bedstraw. Other names for these winter growing annual weeds include; stickywilly, goosegrass, robin-run-over-the-hedge, catch weed and scratch grass. Three-horned bedstraw has become particularly problematic in the Wimmera of Victoria and mid-north and Yorke Peninsula of South Australia where lentil production has increased. Lentils aren’t strong competitors against weeds and there are also limited options for herbicide control. Both three-horned bedstraw and cleavers are a declared pest in some States.

Description

Bedstraws are climbing weeds with weak, branched stems. The leaves and stems are covered with tiny hooked prickles which make the plant feel sticky. The stems are square in cross-section with ridges at the corners and are often hollow. The leaves are formed in whorls of 4 to 8 at nodes on the stems, while the flowers are small and usually have 4 white petals. To distinguish between cleavers and three-horned bedstraw, cleavers have straight rather than curved seed stalks and have hooked hairs on the seed rather than tiny dimply warts.

Control

Bedstraws are controllable in cereal and legume crops with herbicides but can be difficult to control in canola, lupins and lentils. If not controlled, bedstraw can form dense masses of tangled vegetation in crops. It also tends to retain seed which is difficult to grade out of canola seed. The seed can remain viable in the soil for 2-5 years.

Both Precept® and Velocity® will control small bedstraw plants (2-6 leaf) in wheat, barley, cereal rye and triticale. Precept is also registered for the control of bedstraw in oats. Hussar® is registered for suppression of cotyledon to 4 whorl three-horned bedstraw in wheat. Tramat® is registered to control cleavers both pre and post-emergence in beet crops. It is also registered to control cleavers in ryegrass pastures and seed crops in Victoria and Tasmania. When used with Tramat, Betanal Flow® is registered for the control of cleavers in Beetroot and Fodder beet.