Topically cleavers can be used as a poultice and were traditionally used to treat a variety of skin ailments, including light wounds and burns. As a pulp, it has been used to relieve venomous bites and stings.
Historically, the dried, matted foliage of the plant was once used to stuff mattresses. Several of the bedstraws were used for this purpose because the clinging hairs cause the branches to stick together, which enables the mattress filling to maintain a uniform thickness. The roots of cleavers were used to make a permanent red dye.
Please note: For some people, contact with the plant can cause skin irritation. Although the plant's hairs are small, they can scratch more sensitive parts of the skin. Numerous such scratches can resemble a rash.
As always, consult a doctor before consuming as medicine, and pregnant or lactating women should be advised before consuming.
A large bunch -
Cleavers, Fresh -- LIMITED TIME (SPRING SPECIAL)
Mad for Mushrooms is dedicated to the proliferation and learning of wild foods and natural ecosystems. Predominantly foraged, I focus on offering unusual, and wildly delicious foodstuffs for regional chefs and restaurants. Collaboration is essential to the work, outside of foraging and sharing knowledge, I am interested in product development, and alternative applications of biomimetics. As a vendor with Foraged Market, I hope to reach a wider audience, exciting more minds and mouths with nutritionally dense wild food products. The majority of items will be sourced in the forests and hillsides of the Ohio River Valley. However, when indicated, certain items have been successfully wild-grown in my organic, vegan, urban garden to offer a greater variety.
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