CLEAVERS (Galium aperine) *Lymph-loving, detox-clearing, fluid-balancing

💧Organic Cleavers Herb Tincture

Our human-grade, certified organic tinctures give you a ready-to-absorb potent source of phytonutrients at the highest-strength available, for immediate absorption straight into the bloodstream and to the body’s cells.

• Galium aparine
• Dried Herb
• Infused 1:3 35%
• Organically grown

~ Feed Guide - cleavers tincture for horses

• 6ml/100kg bodyweight, daily in feed.
• Our tinctures come in a heat-sealed, twin-neck, child-resistant HDPE plastic dosing bottle, complete with dosing chamber. ♻️ HDPE is recyclable and low-impact - aligned with our sustainability ethos.

🌿Organic Dried Cleavers Herb

Grown, harvested and dried without the use of agri-chemicals, non-irradiated and GMO free - see our Quality page for Quality Management & Certification Documents.

• Galium aparine
• Dried Herb, Cut
• Wild harvested
• Origin Hungary

~ Feed Guide - dried cleavers herb for horses

• 5g/100kg bodyweight per day, i.e. 25g for a 500kg horse.
• Want a scoop? You can add a scoop to your basket during checkout.
• ♻️Supplied in a 100% fully recylable, resealable, food-grade foil pouch for freshness.

Functional Nutritional Value

Constituents: Volatile oils, coumarins, polyphenolic acids (citric, rubichloric, galitannic), anthraquinones, saponins, chlorophyll, tannins, trace minerals, glycosides (aperuloside), flavonoids, iridoid monoterpenes, alkaloids.

Advisories

• Introduce gradually to allow the system to adjust to its mild diuretic and lymphatic-cleansing activity.
• Ensure adequate hydration throughout use to support renal and lymphatic clearance.

Contraindications

• Not advised during pregnancy or lactation due to mild uterine-stimulating potential.
• Use caution in horses with kidney weakness or on prescription diuretics - may enhance fluid elimination.
• Discontinue use during acute dehydration or electrolyte imbalance.

Sticky, clingy, velcro-like - cleavers is a herb that likes to make its presence known! Even the 1st-century AD Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder noted how it clung to clothes, and anyone who’s walked through a patch of cleavers knows exactly what he meant.

For me, seeing cleavers push through the hedgerows in early spring is a seasonal landmark - alongside nettles, daffodils, and blossom. Horses love it too, happily munching on its juicy stems whenever they can. Rampant, generous, and medicinally outstanding, cleavers is one of the most beloved lymphatic herbs in the herbal apothecary.

A gentle tonic

Cleavers is a sweet, moist, nourishing tonic - so gentle it’s considered safe for children. In Ayurvedic medicine, it’s one of the few lymphatic herbs suitable for Vata types (those with thinner, drier constitutions prone to nervousness).

History and folk uses

• The Romans steeped cleavers in wine for snake bites and spider venom.
• 16th-century herbalists also recommended it for snake bites, likely recognising its blood-cleansing, alterative actions.
• Both Romans and rural folk traditions used cleavers as a styptic, applying the crushed plant to wounds to stop bleeding.
• Native American tribes saw it as “deer medicine” - noting how deer sought out cleavers to make soft beds for their fawns, using its scent to disguise them from predators.

Maude Grieve also records that both the Greeks and Swedes once used cleavers as a natural sieve to strain milk through!

Why herbalists love it

Cleavers shines as one of the very best herbs for the lymphatic system. It:

• Increases lymphatic flow, reducing congestion
• Helps swollen lymph nodes drain and cool down
• Enhances immune circulation of T-cells and antibodies
• Supports clear skin and lung health (both rely on lymphatic drainage)

It’s also a trusted non-irritating diuretic, especially useful for bladder and urethral inflammation and chronic UTIs.

Herbalist Matthew Wood describes those in need of cleavers as feeling “nervous, fussy, itchy, not myself” - a state that reflects its affinity with the nervous system too.

Fresh is best

Cleavers is at its peak when freshly harvested - which may explain why horses gorge on it in spring. Herbalists often juice it or tincture it fresh to preserve its moist, cooling vitality. Combined with nettles, cleavers has been a classic spring tonic for centuries, helping the body shed winter sluggishness and step into summer with renewed energy.

Sticky? Yes. Rampant? Definitely. But cleavers is also one of nature’s most generous healers - bringing flow, balance, and gentle nourishment wherever it’s needed.