Stellaria media
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Description: Annual with reclining-ascending or trailing stems to 35 cm long and ovate to elliptic leaves 5-30 cm long. Flowers mostly in cymes. Petals are about 3mm long, white. Leaves are larger toward the tips of the stems, Toward the base of the plant usually have short petioles that are slightly hairy, while the leaves near the tip of each stem are usually sessile. The leaves are entire (toothless) along their margins, and hairless on the upper surface; the lower surface is occasionally hairy.
Field Identification: The flowers open in the morning and remain open for about 12 hours. They do not open in dull weather. The leaves fold up at night, enfolding and protecting the tender buds of new shoots.
Plant Trivia: The common name is an acknowledgment of chickens’ fondness for this plant as a food source. This is a cool-season, edible, annual herb.
Occurrence: Native to Eurasia and North Africa.
Bloom Period: Nov-May
Plant Use: The stem, leaves and flowers are all edible. It attracts bees, butterflies and songbirds, and is a host plant for many moth species as well as butterflies in the Elfin family. Food source for poultry. Chickweed also has a long history of herbal use in the external treatment of any kind of itching skin condition.
Dichotomous Key to the Genus Stellaria:
- Petals shorter than sepals………………S. media
Petals longer than sepals………….S. prostrata
