Tiny star-shaped white flowers with petals cleft to the base so there seem to be ten, on a tangled mat with one line of hairs down each stem
Common chickweed - Stellaria media.
Nature · Wildflowers & flowers
Common chickweed
Native · annual, flowers all year · gardens, arable land, waste ground
Stellaria media — Caryophyllaceae
Common chickweed is a low, sprawling, bright-green annual with tiny white star flowers, found in flower in every month. It is the food of chickens and cage-birds, hence the name, and is edible for people too. A single line of hairs running down the stem, changing side at each pair of leaves, is the classic identification tell.
How to spot them
- ▸Tiny white flowers with five petals so deeply cleft that they appear to be ten
- ▸Oval, pointed, fresh-green leaves in opposite pairs; lower ones on stalks, upper ones stalkless
- ▸A single line of hairs down one side of the stem, switching sides at each node
- ▸Weak, tangled, branching stems lying along the ground, up to about 30 cm
- ▸Look-alikes: mouse-ears (Cerastium) are hairy all over with shallowly notched petals; greater stitchwort is taller with larger flowers; scarlet pimpernel has red-orange flowers and a square stem
How to know it
Its common name records its use as feed for chickens and cage-birds; the leaves are also sometimes eaten in salads and stir-fries
Common chickweed - Wildlife Trusts.
One of the Japanese seven herbs of spring, called hakobe, alongside shepherd's purse
Common chickweed - haru no nanakusa.
Its genus name means 'starry', from the shape of the flower; the species name means 'intermediate'
Common chickweed - Stellaria from Latin stella, media = middle.
Flowers in every month of the year, and is a valuable food source for insects, even in winter
Common chickweed - Wildlife Trusts.
A similar-sized sprawler with a square stem, red-orange flowers that close in dull weather and no line of hairs is a different plant
Common chickweed (scarlet pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis).
Quick-fire facts
- •Family Caryophyllaceae, the pink family
- •BSBI: native, very common and widespread
- •Wildlife Trusts: flowers January to December; up to 30 cm; leaves sometimes eaten in salads and stir-fries
- •The single line of hairs on the stem alternates sides between nodes
- •Stellaria is from Latin stella, 'star'; media means 'intermediate' (Linnaeus's naming)
- •One of the seven spring herbs (haru no nanakusa) in Japan, called hakobe
- •Lesser chickweed (Stellaria pallida) has tiny or no petals and grows on sandy soils
- •The leaves often fold up at night, and the flowers open in sunshine
Drill it — 6 cards
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Sources
- The Wildlife Trusts — Common chickweed
- BSBI — Stellaria media (L.) Vill. (Common Chickweed)