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A common hedgerow plant and also occurs as a weed of cultivated land throughout Britain, Europe, Canada and the eastern half and Pacific coast of the USA. Goosegrass forms dense tangled mats which scramble over or climb up anything in its way, such as bushes or trees. Upon closer inspection, it is seen that the stems of individual plants can be up to 180cm in length and are square in cross-section. The leaves, which are long and narrow, are borne in whorls of between four to ten at intervals along the stem, and there may be from six to eight of these along the stem. Although it is a flowering plant, the flowers are extremely inconspicuous, consisting of small clusters of white, four-petalled flowers, produced in the axils of the leaves from June to August. At the end of flowering goosegrass produces small, hard, spherical fruits, which are green at first before becoming more purple. These fruits occur in pairs and, like the entire rest of the plant, are covered with small hooks that cling to fur, feather and fabric. Each plant has the ability to produce some 3500 seeds. These are quite hardy and can often withstand the winter, thus enabling the plant to get a head-start on potential competitors in the springtime. The seeds are dispersed by means of these fruits becoming attached to the fur of animals and thus being transported to new locations.
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