Stellaria media (L.) Vill. Chickweed

Stellaria media (L.) Vill. - Chickweed

Scientific Description:

Annual herb, sprawling or weakly erect. Lower leaves petiolate, cordate or ovate; upper with short petioles or sessile, often larger than the lower leaves. Inflorescence usually with ± condensed branches, sometimes appearing umbellate, or rarely lax and much branched. Sepals 3−7 mm, acute, glabrous or hairy. Petals usually 5, not exceeding sepals, sometimes very small or 0. Stamens 3−10. Styles 3. Capsule valves usually slightly exceeding calyx and split nearly to base.

Flowering time: April−June

Habitat: Rocky places.

Reference:

Coode MJE (1967). Stellaria media (L.) Vill, In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2: 69.

Public Description:

Stellaria media, known as “chickweed” or “common chickweed”, is distributed in all temperate and north Arctic regions. It is an annual and cool-season plant with small and white flowers. As the flowers are followed quickly by the seed pods, they are both flowering and seeded at the same time. In some countries, it is consumed in both fresh and dried form. It is one of the ingredients of the symbolic dish consumed in the Japanese spring-time festival, “Nanakusa-no-sekku”. It blooms in April and June and is mostly found in rocky areas.

References:

Anonymous 1 (2016). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellaria_media/, Accessed date: 04.01.2016.

Anonymous 2 (2016). https://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/chickw60.html/, Accessed date: 04.01.2016.

Anonymous 3 (2016). http://www.kingdomplantae.net/chickweed.php/, Accessed date: 04.01.2016.

Keskin M (2012). Stellaria L., In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 365–366.