Leaf:  Opposite, simple; ovate to broadly elliptic, 0.5 to 3 cm long, 3 to 11 mm wide, tip sharply pointed; margin smooth; upper surface light green, smooth, though sometimes with a few hairs toward the base; upper leaves sessile, lower leaves with petioles up to the length of the blade, petioles having ciliate wings; leaves staying green throughout the year.

Flower:  White flowers in terminal clusters or solitary in leaf axils; each flower 5 to 8 mm wide with 5 white petals notched halfway or more to the base so they appear to be 10 petals, 5 green sepals, 3 to 10 stamens, blooming February through December.

Fruit:  Egg-shaped capsule, splitting into 6 sections; whitish to brown in color; containing many seeds (up to 15,000 per plant); each seed round to somewhat heart-shaped and flattened, about 1 mm in diameter, orange to tan, with 4 rows of short, hard outgrowths along the sides, germinating September to December.

Stem:  Trailing, many-branched; light green in color; with 1 or 2 lines of hairs running longitudinally on the upper portions, without hairs on lower portions; up to 40 cm long; rooting at the nodes.

Form:  Annual, cool-season, sprawling, many-branched, low forb.

Discussion

Stellaria media is the scientific name for common chickweed. The word stellaria is from the Latin word “stella”, which means “star”, referring to the plant's star-shaped flowers. The word media means “the middle”, often used when a plant is midway between two other similar species in some way.  The common name "chickweed" came about because barnyard chickens commonly eat the leaves and flowers.  The common name "starwort" means "star plant" and refers to the star-shaped flowers.  

Chickweed is a non-native plant to the U.S., coming from Eurasia. 

Chickweed is ecologically important as a food source for songbirds (junco, American goldfinch, and sparrows) which feed on its seeds, leaves, and flower buds.  Quail and mourning doves eat the seeds. 

Chickweed stays fresh and flowers almost all  throughout the year, so it can be eaten green any time.  Some people cook chickweed in a little water and use as a substitute for spinach in spinach pie or in omelets.  Fresh leaves can be added to salads.  Some people even just lay the plant on the plate as a decoration. 

Distinguishing Characteristics

Chickweed's tiny star-shaped flowers are very distinctive, 5 to 8 mm across, with the white flower on top of the plant having 5 deeply-notched petals.  The plant is delicate, low, and sprawling.   

Distribution

Although chickweed is a non-native plant it is very common throughout temperate North America, inhabiting shady areas with moist soils.  The plant is found in lawns, gardens, meadows, roadsides, fields, and waste areas.  We found our sample growing with mosses around the trimmed yews on the north side of the Carlinville High School and Middle School complex.

Images

Click each small picture to see a larger image. 

October, 2003 RL	October, 2003 RL	October, 2003 GD
December, 2003 RL

Location

N  39.26937º       W  -89.89104º
On the north side of Carlinville Middle School, 829 W. Main, Carlinville, Macoupin County, IL.

Copyright

Photos © 2003 Ryan Long and Gary Dugger, Carlinville High School, linke@carlinvilleschools.net       

References

Niering, William A. and Nancy C. Olmstead. 1979. National Audubon Society field guide to North American wildflowers. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.  887 pp.

Peterson, Roger Tory and Margaret Mckenny. 1968.  Wildflowers.  Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.  420 pp.

Gibbons, Euell and Gordon Tucker.  1979.  Euell Gibbons' handbook of edible wild plants.  The Donning Company, Virginia Beach.  319 pp.

Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.  1971.  Common weeds of the United States.  Dover Publications, Inc., New York.  463 pp.

Stubbendieck, James, Geir Y. Friisoe, and Margaret R. Bolick.  1994.  Weeds of Nebraska and the Great Plains.   Nebraska Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Lincoln.  589 pp.

Editorial Subcommittee of the Regional Technical Committee of Project NC-10, K.P. Buchholtz, Chairman.  1954.  Weeds of the north central states [North Central Regional Publication No. 36, Circular 718  Feb. 1954].  University of Illinois, Urbana.  239 pp.

Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Stellaria%20media

Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide
http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/steme.htm

Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University
http://alfalfa.okstate.edu/weeds/winbroad/common_chickweed.htm

Ralph E. Berry and Leonard B. Coop,  Department of Entomology and the Integrated Plant Protection Center, Oregon State University
http://mint.ippc.orst.edu/chickweedbiol.htm

Field Guide to Noxious and Other Selected Weeds of British Columbia, Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Fisheries
http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/weedguid/chickwd.htm

Michael L. Charters,  Botanical Word Meanings and Name Derivations
http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/pageM-N.html
http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/pageQ-S.html

 Click here to return to the plant list for Carlinville High School's South-Central Illinois flora studies.