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Species
Galium aparine L.
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
I, II, III, IV, V, RM, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, Juan Fernandez
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Pablo Gutierrez, IABIN |
Source | No source database. |
More info for the terms: initial off-site colonizer, secondary colonizer
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY [137]:
Initial off-site colonizer (off-site, initial community)
Secondary colonizer (on-site or off-site seed sources)
More info for the terms: indicator value, natural, presence
Stickywilly fruits heavily matted heavily
into sheep decrease wool value [21].
The chemical and mechanical control of stickywilly in cultivated
crops is discussed in several studies [21,51,62,91].
In natural settings, the presence of stickywilly may give an indication of
natural regeneration following disturbances. In southwestern Oregon, stickywilly had an indicator value of 11,
suggesting low to moderately low natural regeneration difficulty following clearcutting
in mixed conifer and mixed evergreen forests [43].
More info for the terms: forb, perfect
This description provides characteristics that may be relevant to fire ecology, and is not meant for identification. Keys for identification are available [11,25,41,57,58,65,71,94,129,158,161,165,167].
Stickywilly is an annual forb [25,44,58,143] that due to its highly plastic nature can grow as a winter or summer annual in temperate regions [28]. Under certain environmental conditions, stickywilly may grow more like a biennial [90]. The stickywilly root system is a shallow, branching taproot. Stickywilly has weak square stems with few branches [25,41,44,58]. Weak stems give stickywilly a gangly appearance, and tangles of stickywilly's scrambling stems with nearby vegetation are inevitable [44,143]. This growth form allows stickywilly a spread of up to 6 feet (1.8 m) [21]. At the stem angles are hooked hairs or bristles that further aid in clambering and provide for plant dispersal [21,41,44].
A distinct characteristic of bedstraw species (Galium spp.) is leaves arranged in whorls. Stickywilly typically displays simple linear leaves (0.4 to 3.2 inches long (1-8 cm)) in whorls of 8. However, whorls of 6 and 7 leaves occur as well [25,41,44,58,62,143]. Flowers are perfect cymes and fruits are schizocarps that measure between 1-4 mm in diameter, but 3-4 mm is more typical [44,57,143]. Seeds are covered with sticky hooked hairs [21,25,58]. When found on dry sites, stickywilly leaves measure 0.4 to 1.6 inches (1-4 cm) long, and fruits typically range from 1.5 to 3 mm in diameter [44].
Look-alike species: Stickywilly can be mistaken with Marin County bedstraw (Galium spurium) especially when found in crops or disturbed sites. Marin County bedstraw is a more aggressive, nonnative species tolerant of dry sunny areas. The 2 species are unreliably distinguished by habitat, but chromosome numbers distinguish them [103].
More info for the terms: fire regime, fire tolerant, marsh
Fire adaptations: Stickywilly recolonizes burned sites through seed germination. Seed may be from on-site and/or off-site sources (see Fire Effects).
FIRE REGIMES: Many diverse communities provide stickywilly habitat. The FIRE REGIMES are dictated by the overstory community. Stickywilly experiences extreme ranges in fire frequencies. Vegetation in Quebec's Huntingdon Marsh that includes stickywilly burns almost every fall or early spring. Researchers found evidence of previous growing season fires in 28% to 50% of the quadrats sampled, and 14% to 25% of quadrats burned in the last 2 or 3 years [9]. Western Montana's rough fescue (Festuca altaica)-dominated grasslands that are also stickywilly habitat tolerate fire frequencies of between 5 and 10 years. Researchers based estimated fire frequencies on this community's postfire vegetation recovery [2]. In the East, stickywilly is common in sugar maple communities where fires are exceptionally rare, occurring at greater than 1,000-year intervals [159]. This range of FIRE REGIMES tolerated by stickywilly suggests that this species is fire tolerant but not fire dependent.
The following table provides fire return intervals for plant communities and ecosystems where stickywilly is important. For further information, see the FEIS review of the dominant species listed below. This list may not be inclusive for all plant communities in which stickywilly occurs. If you are interested in plant communities or ecosystems that are not listed below, see the complete FEIS fire regime table.
Community or Ecosystem | Dominant Species | Fire Return Interval Range (years) |
silver fir-Douglas-fir | Abies amabilis-Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii | > 200 |
grand fir | Abies grandis | 35-200 [4] |
maple-beech-birch | Acer-Fagus-Betula spp. | > 1,000 |
silver maple-American elm | Acer saccharinum-Ulmus americana | < 35 to 200 |
sugar maple | Acer saccharum | > 1,000 |
sugar maple-basswood | Acer saccharum-Tilia americana | > 1,000 [159] |
California chaparral | Adenostoma and/or Arctostaphylos spp. | 111] |
bluestem prairie | Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii-Schizachyrium scoparium | 78,111] |
Nebraska sandhills prairie | Andropogon gerardii var. paucipilus-Schizachyrium scoparium | < 10 |
bluestem-Sacahuista prairie | Andropogon littoralis-Spartina spartinae | 111] |
silver sagebrush steppe | Artemisia cana | 5-45 [55,117,169] |
sagebrush steppe | Artemisia tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata | 20-70 [111] |
basin big sagebrush | Artemisia tridentata var. tridentata | 12-43 [126] |
mountain big sagebrush | Artemisia tridentata var. vaseyana | 15-40 [6,20,100] |
Wyoming big sagebrush | Artemisia tridentata var. wyomingensis | 10-70 (40**) [156,172] |
coastal sagebrush | Artemisia californica | 111] |
plains grasslands | Bouteloua spp. | 111,169] |
cheatgrass | Bromus tectorum | 112,162] |
California montane chaparral | Ceanothus and/or Arctostaphylos spp. | 50-100 [111] |
sugarberry-America elm-green ash | Celtis laevigata-Ulmus americana-Fraxinus pennsylvanica | 159] |
mountain-mahogany-Gambel oak scrub | Cercocarpus ledifolius-Quercus gambelii | 111] |
beech-sugar maple | Fagus spp.-Acer saccharum | > 1,000 |
black ash | Fraxinus nigra | 159] |
juniper-oak savanna | Juniperus ashei-Quercus virginiana | < 35 |
Ashe juniper | Juniperus ashei | < 35 |
western juniper | Juniperus occidentalis | 20-70 |
Rocky Mountain juniper | Juniperus scopulorum | 111] |
cedar glades | Juniperus virginiana | 3-22 [50,111] |
tamarack | Larix laricina | 35-200 [111] |
western larch | Larix occidentalis | 25-350 [5,13,27] |
yellow-poplar | Liriodendron tulipifera | 159] |
Great Lakes spruce-fir | Picea-Abies spp. | 35 to > 200 |
northeastern spruce-fir | Picea-Abies spp. | 35-200 [31] |
southeastern spruce-fir | Picea-Abies spp. | 35 to > 200 [159] |
Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir | Picea engelmannii-Abies lasiocarpa | 35 to > 200 [4] |
black spruce | Picea mariana | 35-200 |
conifer bog* | Picea mariana-Larix laricina | 35-200 [31] |
pinyon-juniper | Pinus-Juniperus spp. | 111] |
Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine* | Pinus contorta var. latifolia | 25-340 [12,13,147] |
Sierra lodgepole pine* | Pinus contorta var. murrayana | 35-200 [4] |
shortleaf pine | Pinus echinata | 2-15 |
slash pine-hardwood | Pinus elliottii-variable | < 35 |
longleaf pine-scrub oak | Pinus palustris-Quercus spp. | 6-10 [159] |
Pacific ponderosa pine* | Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa | 1-47 [4] |
interior ponderosa pine* | Pinus ponderosa var. scopulorum | 2-30 [4,10,83] |
Arizona pine | Pinus ponderosa var. arizonica | 2-15 [10,24,128] |
eastern white pine | Pinus strobus | 35-200 |
eastern white pine-eastern hemlock | Pinus strobus-Tsuga canadensis | 35-200 |
eastern white pine-northern red oak-red maple | Pinus strobus-Quercus rubra-Acer rubrum | 35-200 |
Virginia pine | Pinus virginiana | 10 to < 35 |
Virginia pine-oak | Pinus virginiana-Quercus spp. | 10 to < 35 |
sycamore-sweetgum-American elm | Platanus occidentalis-Liquidambar styraciflua-Ulmus americana | 159] |
eastern cottonwood | Populus deltoides | 111] |
aspen-birch | Populus tremuloides-Betula papyrifera | 35-200 [31,159] |
quaking aspen (west of the Great Plains) | Populus tremuloides | 7-120 [4,47,99] |
black cherry-sugar maple | Prunus serotina-Acer saccharum | > 1,000 [159] |
mountain grasslands | Pseudoroegneria spicata | 3-40 (10**) [3,4] |
Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir* | Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca | 25-100 [4,6,7] |
coastal Douglas-fir* | Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii | 40-240 [4,104,121] |
California mixed evergreen | Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii-Lithocarpus densiflorus-Arbutus menziesii | < 35 |
California oakwoods | Quercus spp. | 4] |
oak-hickory | Quercus-Carya spp. | 159] |
oak-juniper woodland (Southwest) | Quercus-Juniperus spp. | 111] |
northeastern oak-pine | Quercus-Pinus spp. | 10 to 159] |
oak-gum-cypress | Quercus-Nyssa-spp.-Taxodium distichum | 35 to > 200 [106] |
southeastern oak-pine | Quercus-Pinus spp. | 159] |
coast live oak | Quercus agrifolia | 2-75 [45] |
white oak-black oak-northern red oak | Quercus alba-Q. velutina-Q. rubra | 159] |
canyon live oak | Quercus chrysolepis | <35 to 200 |
blue oak-foothills pine | Quercus douglasii-P. sabiniana | 4] |
northern pin oak | Quercus ellipsoidalis | 159] |
Oregon white oak | Quercus garryana | 4] |
bear oak | Quercus ilicifolia | 159] |
California black oak | Quercus kelloggii | 5-30 [111] |
bur oak | Quercus macrocarpa | 159] |
oak savanna | Quercus macrocarpa/Andropogon gerardii-Schizachyrium scoparium | 2-14 [111,159] |
chestnut oak | Quercus prinus | 3-8 |
northern red oak | Quercus rubra | 10 to < 35 |
post oak-blackjack oak | Quercus stellata-Q. marilandica | < 10 |
black oak | Quercus velutina | < 35 |
live oak | Quercus virginiana | 10 to159] |
interior live oak | Quercus wislizenii | 4] |
blackland prairie | Schizachyrium scoparium-Nassella leucotricha | < 10 |
Fayette prairie | Schizachyrium scoparium-Buchloe dactyloides | 159] |
little bluestem-grama prairie | Schizachyrium scoparium-Bouteloua spp. | 111] |
redwood | Sequoia sempervirens | 5-200 [4,37,142] |
baldcypress | Taxodium distichum var. distichum | 100 to > 300 |
pondcypress | Taxodium distichum var. nutans | 106] |
western redcedar-western hemlock | Thuja plicata-Tsuga heterophylla | > 200 [4] |
eastern hemlock-yellow birch | Tsuga canadensis-Betula alleghaniensis | > 200 [159] |
western hemlock-Sitka spruce | Tsuga heterophylla-Picea sitchensis | > 200 |
mountain hemlock* | Tsuga mertensiana | 35 to > 200 [4] |
elm-ash-cottonwood | Ulmus-Fraxinus-Populus spp. | 31,159] |
*fire return interval varies widely; trends in variation are noted in the species review
**mean
Uses: MEDICINE/DRUG
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Galium+aparine |
30-150 cm
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Nenya, Nenya |
Source | No source database. |
More info on this topic.
More info for the terms: association, constancy, cover, density, frequency, hardwood, importance value, nonnative species, presence, succession
While many consider disturbed sites common stickywilly habitat [133,158,167], in many instances stickywilly coverage and/or frequency is greater on undisturbed or more successionally advanced sites [107,108,123].
Shade relationships: Habitats providing light shade are preferred by stickywilly; however, deep shade and/or full sun conditions are tolerated in some environments. In greenhouse simulations, stickywilly root and shoot growth were significantly lower (p<0.001) under deep shade conditions. Height increases were greater under patchy light conditions than under deep shade [131]. In central California, stickywilly produced more biomass when growing under live or dead blue oaks than when growing in open grasslands. The density of stickywilly was 1.3 g/m² under live trees, 2.0 g/m² growing under dead trees, and 0.2 g/m² in open grassland [61].
Comparisons between Douglas-fir forests of western Washington and Oregon revealed that stickywilly coverage and frequency were 0.2% and 20.8%, respectively, in forests characterized by well-spaced Douglas-fir trees between 21.6 and 25.6 inches (55-65 cm) dbh. Stickywilly was absent from forests with closely-spaced Douglas-fir trees between 11.8 and 17.7 inches (30-45 cm) dbh. [151].
Pyle [116] made comparisons between Maryland's Potomac River floodplain forests with different levels of shading and human use. The canopy of these floodplain forests were dominated by box elder and pawpaw. Stickywilly was present only on sites receiving the heaviest recreation use and the highest degree of shading. Stickywilly did not occur on sites with little to no human disturbance that received mid-levels of sunlight. The combined land use and shading variables make determining the most important factor affecting stickywilly presence impossible [116].
Recent disturbances/early succession: The following studies suggest that stickywilly is not necessarily encouraged through disturbances and that disturbance responses are likely situation dependent. Stickywilly was not present in 1-, 2-, or 3-year-old abandoned fields of Piedmont, North Carolina, but did occur in bottomland mixed-hardwood forests in the same area [108]. In western Massachusetts, stickywilly occurred on marshes above the active flood plain but did not occur on annually flooded sites [60]. In north-central Idaho, stickywilly was absent from the earliest seral communities within a western redcedar-western hemlock vegetation association [123]. Following the excavation of hardwood bottomland forests near Dallas, Texas, Nixon [107] monitored early successional changes. Stickywilly was absent from the youngest sites (3 and 5 years since excavation) and had an importance value of 1 on sites excavated 47 years prior. The 3-, 5-, and 47-year-old forests were dominated by eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides), black willow (Salix nigra), and sugarberry, respectively. On unexcavated forest sites, stickywilly had an importance value of 20 [107]. On a debris flow along a second order stream in the Central Coast Range of Oregon, stickywilly presence was first recorded 7 years following the initiation of succession. Stickywilly was absent from sites visited 10 years following the debris flow [110].
In an Oregon white oak meadow of southwestern British Columbia, MacDougall [89] intentionally disturbed sites in an attempt to decrease nonnative species. Disturbances included burning, mowing, and removal of nonnative species. Some sites were treated in the fall, others in the summer and fall. All treated sites were grouped and considered disturbed, so differences between burning, mowing, or removal treatments were lost. On shallow soil sites (2 to 5.9 inches (5-15 cm)), the predisturbance coverage of stickywilly was 9.8% and postdisturbance coverage was 22.6%. On deep soil sites (>39.4 inches (100 cm)), the predisturbance and postdisturbance coverages of stickywilly were 2.5% and 2.3%, respectively [89].
Following a 1975 clearcut and slash burn in north-central California, McDonald [97] monitored early succession in a ponderosa pine community. Stickywilly was absent in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th posttreatment years and frequency was low in the 2nd and 5th posttreatment years. The percent frequency, density, and height (average of 3 tallest stems) of stickywilly are given below for all posttreatment monitoring years. Sites were exceptionally dry in 1976 and 1977 and were extremely wet in 1978 [97].
Year | Frequency (%) | Density (plants/milacre) | Height (ft) |
1976 | --- | --- | --- |
1977 | 2 | 17 | 0.5 |
1978 | --- | --- | --- |
1979 | --- | --- | --- |
1980 | 2 | 17 | 3.1 |
Past disturbances/later succession: Stickywilly occupies developing, mature, and old-growth woodlands and forests but is generally more frequent in mid-successional stages. In Douglas-fir forests of Oregon's Cascade Range, stickywilly's frequency of occurrence was significantly greater (p≥195 years) or young (132]. In coast live oak woodlands of Berkeley Hills, California, stickywilly frequency was 5% to 52%, while frequency was 1% to 9% in San Francisco Bay woodlands considered successionally older [96]. In a southeastern Washington ponderosa pine/common snowberry community representative of a middle stage of succession, stickywilly had 83% constancy and 1% cover [115].
Luken and Fonda [87] investigated changes in vegetation, canopy cover, and soil nitrogen as red alder (Alnus rubra) stands aged along the Hoh River in Washington. Soil nitrogen content increased and canopies became more open with age. Stickywilly frequency and cover were greatest in the 24-year-old red alder stands. The differences in stickywilly coverage and frequency in 14-, 24-, and 65-year-old red alder stands are presented below [87]:
Stand Age (years) | 14 | 24 | 65 | |||
Attribute measured | Cover | Frequency | Cover | Frequency | Cover | Frequency |
Stickywilly | * | 5 | 3.4 | 50 | * | 5 |
*present, but with coverage below 1%.
In mature American beech-sugar maple forests of southwestern Ohio, canopy gaps were created by falling single American beech trees. Vegetation changes in different aged gaps (1-15 years) were monitored. The middle-aged gaps had significantly (p=0.05) greater coverage of stickywilly. The results are provided below; values followed by the same letter are not significantly different [102].
Gap age (years) | 1-2 | 5-7 | 12 & 15 | Intact canopy |
Stickywilly coverage (average) | 0.4a | 0.5b | 0.4a | 0.4a |
More info for the term: frequency
The lack of literature describing stickywilly in rehabilitation or revegetation efforts suggests that the usage of stickywilly in these projects is limited. Stickywilly frequency was 25% to 35% on a 31-year-old revegetated coal mine spoil sites in southeastern Ohio; stickywilly was not purposefully planted on the site [22].
Cleavers is a common plant that occurs in every county of Illinois (see Distribution Map). This species has a circumpolar distribution and it is native to both North America and Eurasia. Habitats include woodlands, thickets, seeps, limestone glades, weedy meadows in floodplain areas, fence rows, barnyards, ditches, flower beds, and edges of dumps. This species occurs in both natural and disturbed habitats.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Copyright © 2002-2014 by Dr. John Hilty |
Source | http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/cleavers.htm |