Bedstraw: Perennial
Reproducing by seed or rhizomes

Cotyledons
Opposite, oval to round

Roots
Fibrous

Stem
Square, sprawling
Cleavers: downward pointing hairs
on stem corners, weak, reclining
Bedstraw: smooth, hairless

True Leaves
Narrow, oblong in whorls of six or eight
Cleavers: rough hairs
Bedstraw: smooth

Flowers
Four small white petals
Produced on branched clusters
at stem ends and axils

Habitat
Grain and forage fields, roadsides

Note
Cleavers' rough hairs extremely clingy