Galium proliferum  Hairy Bedstraw
ANNUAL.  Weak, trailing square green stems have leaves only at widely spaced nodes where the stems branch.  Leaves in whorls of 4 on the lower part and 2 - 4 on the rest of the stem.  Flowers white, tiny.  Seeds two-lobed, very spiny, on very short stalks (or none).  Plants disappear by late May.  In the Empires, uncommon in deep sand in the shade of rock outcrops.  G. aparine grows in similar places but is leafier and the stems are "sticky" with many tiny recurved prickles.  G. microphylla is erect, with thinner stems and shorter leaves, and the leaf whorls closer together.
FAMILY:  Rubiaceae (Madder Family)