Sticky Willy

When I posted a link to my piece (here) on poppers' (Ribwort plantain) on social media a few days ago, it unleashed a torrent of happy childhood memories. Some of these reminiscences revolved around folk names for plants and there was much giggling around the name Sticky Willy. 

You'll know this plant. It's the one you tugged out of the hedgerow and slapped across a schoolfriend's back, knowing that the tiny spiky hairs would make the plant stick to them. And even when you tore the plant off it often left behind lots of small sticky burrs that needed to be picked off. 

If you own a long-haired dog you'll be be very familiar with just how 'sticky' these can be.

Sticky Willy (Galium aparine) has a wealth of folk names including Goose Grass, Goats Weed, Bedstraw, Sticky Bob, Cleavers, Hedgeheriff, Grip Grass, Hayruff, Mutton chops, Barweed, Catchweed, Hitchhikers, Sticky Molly, Robin-run-the-hedge, Stickeljack, Grip grass, Cleaverwort, Scarthgrass, Hayriffe, Bobby buttons, Whippysticks, Eriffe, Loveman, Goosebill, Everlasting Friendship, and Velcro plant. 

It's a very common wild plant and a great favourite of aphids and geese (hence the name Goose Grass). It's also edible for humans although the tiny hooks make it fairly unpalatable raw. The leaves and stems are best cooked when young and tender - before the flowers and burrs appear. The plant is in the same family as coffee and the burrs can be dried and roasted, and then used as a coffee substitute which contains less caffeine. 

My favourite way to use them is to make Sticky Willy Water. You grab a good handful of young-ish leafy stems, chop them up and put them in water in a jar overnight at minimum but 24 hours if you can wait. Then you strain the water - which will have taken on a pale cloudy green tint and a slight 'thickness' or silkiness - through muslin and chill. The resulting water tastes deliciously of cucumber and is very refreshing on a hot day, especially if you add a little sweetener and/or some fresh mint. You can also use it as a flavouring in Summer cocktails.

Sticky Willy does have diuretic properties and herbalists prescribe it for cleansing the body and as an aid to weight loss. In traditional folk medicine it's been claimed that it can thin the blood, which may have a beneficial effect in lowering blood pressure. It's also claimed that it can help ease symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and intestinal cystitis, and that it can work as an anti-inflammatory to help with symptoms of arthritis. Some scientific studies do suggest that a tincture of Sticky Willy can ease symptoms of psoriasis and eczema. 

However effective these cures are, there's certainly no harm in eating fresh, unpolluted, organic hedgerow greens.