Common chickweed | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Caryophyllaceae |
Genus: | Stellaria |
Species: | S. media |
Binomial name | |
Stellaria media | |
Synonyms | |
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Stellaria media, chickweed, is an annual flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to Eurasia and naturalized throughout the world, where it is a weed of waste ground, farmland and gardens. It is sometimes grown as a salad crop or for poultry consumption.
Chickweed is a hardy annual which flowers throughout the year in northern Europe, in mild weather. [1] The stems are terete and glabrous with a lax and sprawling growth habit, up to 400 mm (16 inches) long and 1 mm (0.039 inches) in diameter, with a line (very occasionally 2 lines) of hairs running straight down its length, alternating sides at the nodes. The petioles are 5 to 8 mm long with hairy margins. The leaves are green, hairless, oval and opposite, 6 to 25 mm long by 3 to 10 mm wide with a hydathode at the tip. [2] [3]
The flowers are small, less than 1 cm in diameter, with 5 bifid white petals, 1–3 mm long, nestled inside the larger (3–5 mm long) sepals. These sepals have long, wavy (villous) hairs on their outer (distal) sides and are oval in shape, and usually 5 in number. There are often only 3 stamens but sometimes more (up to 8) and 3 styles. Many publications state that chickweed sometimes has no petals at all, but this may be due to confusion with lesser chickweed, which used to be considered a subspecies but is now considered to be a species in its own right. [4] [3] [5] [6]
The flowers quickly form capsules. Plants may have flowers and capsules at the same time.
The name Stellaria media was published by Domínique Villars in Histoire des plantes du Dauphiné in 1789. It has accumulated a huge number of synonyms since then, as well as many putative varieties and subspecies, very few of which are accepted today. [7]
The name Stellaria is derived from the word 'stella' meaning 'star', [8] which is a reference to the shape of its flowers; media is Latin for 'between', 'intermediate', or 'mid-sized'. [9]
It is sometimes called common chickweed to distinguish it from other plants called chickweed. Other common names include chickenwort, craches, maruns, and winterweed.
Chickweeds are recognisable by the line of hairs down the stem. The species most likely to be confused with chickweeds are mouse-ears ( Cerastium ), however, mouse-ears are hairy all over (leaves and stems).
Common chickweed can be differentiated from lesser chickweed by the presence of white petals on the former and from greater chickweed by 3–8 stamens present compared to 8–10 found in greater chickweed. [10] [11] Water chickweed has petals longer than the sepals. [2]
Stellaria media is widespread in Asia, Europe, North America, and other parts of the world. There are several closely related plants referred to as chickweed, but which lack the culinary properties of plants in the genus Stellaria.
Stellaria media is common in lawns, meadows, waste places, and open areas. [12] [13] Its Ellenberg values in Britain are L = 7, F = 5, R = 6, N = 7, and S = 0. [14]
The larvae of the following species of Lepidoptera feed on chickweed: chickweed geometer ( Haematopis grataria ), yellow shell ( Camptogramma bilineata ), pale-banded dart ( Agnorisma badinodis ), dusky cutworm ( Agrotis venerabilis ) and dainty sulphur ( Nathalis iole ). It is susceptible to downy mildew caused by the oomycete species Peronospora alsinearum. [15]
Stellaria media is edible and nutritious, and is used as a leaf vegetable, often raw in salads. [16] It is one of the ingredients of the symbolic dish consumed in the Japanese spring-time festival, Nanakusa-no-sekku . Some varieties or similar species may be too fibrous to eat. [17]
It is also eaten by chickens, wild birds, and mountain sheep. [18] [19]
Chickweed contains plant chemicals known as saponins, which can be toxic to some species (notably fish). It is unlikely that most land animals will be affected, as the quantities involved are not large. However, it is not advised for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. [20]
It is said to have medicinal properties and is used in folk medicine. It has been used as a remedy to treat itchy skin conditions and pulmonary diseases. [21] 17th-century herbalist John Gerard recommended it as a remedy for mange. Modern herbalists prescribe it for iron-deficiency anemia (for its high iron content), as well as for skin diseases, bronchitis, rheumatic pains, arthritis, and period pain. [22] Not all of these uses are supported by scientific evidence. [23] The plant was used by the Ainu for treating bruises and aching bones. Stems were steeped in hot water before being applied externally to affected areas. [24]
The anthraquinones emodin, parietin (physcion) and questin, the flavonoid kaempferol-3,7-O-α-L-dirhamnoside, the phytosterols β-sitosterol and daucosterol, and the fatty alcohol 1-hexacosanol can be found in S. media. [25] Other flavonoid constituents are apigenin 6-C-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-8-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside, apigenin 6-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-8-C-beta-D-galactopyranoside, apigenin 6-C-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-8-C-beta-L-arabinopyranoside, apigenin 6-C-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-8-C-beta-D-galactopyranoside, apigenin 6, 8-di-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside. [26] The plant also contains triterpenoid saponins [27] [28] of the hydroxylated oleanolic acid type. [29] Proanthocyanidins are present in the testa of seeds. [30]
Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae, and Polygonaceae. It is a large family, with 81 genera and about 2,625 known species.
Anagallis arvensis, commonly known as the scarlet pimpernel, red pimpernel, red chickweed, poor man's barometer, poor man's weather-glass, shepherd's weather glass or shepherd's clock, is a species of low-growing annual plant with brightly coloured flowers, most often scarlet but also bright blue and sometimes pink. The native range of the species is Europe and Western Asia and North Africa. The species has been distributed widely by humans, either deliberately as an ornamental flower or accidentally. A. arvensis is now naturalised almost worldwide, with a range that encompasses the Americas, Central and East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, Malesia, the Pacific Islands, Australasia and Southern Africa.
Stellaria is a genus of about 190 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, with a cosmopolitan distribution. Common names include starwort, stitchwort and chickweed.
Fallopia convolvulus, the black-bindweed or wild buckwheat, is a fast-growing annual flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae native throughout Europe, Asia and northern Africa.
Agrostemma githago, the common corn-cockle, is a herbaceous annual flowering plant in the pink and carnation family Caryophyllaceae.
Capsella bursa-pastoris, known as shepherd's purse because of its triangular flat fruits, which are purse-like, is a small annual and ruderal flowering plant in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). It is native to eastern Europe and Asia minor, but is naturalized and considered a common weed in many parts of the world, especially in colder climates, including British Isles, where it is regarded as an archaeophyte, North America and China, but also in the Mediterranean and North Africa. C. bursa-pastoris is the second-most prolific wild plant in the world, and is common on cultivated ground and waysides and meadows.
Mollugo verticillata, the green carpetweed, is a rapidly spreading annual plant from tropical America. In eastern North America, it is a common weed growing in disturbed areas. It forms a prostrate circular mat that can quickly climb over nearby plants and obstacles. The species has been reported from every state in the United States except Alaska, Hawaii, and Utah, as well as from British Columbia, Manitoba. Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Although considered an invasive weed, M.verticillata is also known to be edible. Archaeological evidence has shown that M. verticillata has been in North America for about 3000 years. Sometimes also referred to as "Indian chickweed", in China this plant is referred to as zhong leng su mi cao.
Calendula officinalis, the pot marigold, common marigold, ruddles, Mary's gold or Scotch marigold, is a flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is probably native to southern Europe, though its long history of cultivation makes its precise origin unknown, and it may possibly be of garden origin. It is also widely naturalised farther north in Europe and elsewhere in warm temperate regions of the world.
Stellaria pubera, commonly called the star chickweed, is a spring-flowering plant in the carnation family Caryophyllaceae, native to the eastern United States.
Draba verna, common whitlowgrass, is a species of plant in the cabbage family. It is a small spring-flowering annual which is widely dispersed around the world, and which is found on walls, pavements and patches of bare ground. It has a complex taxonomy which is not yet fully elucidated.
Montia fontana, blinks is a herbaceous annual to perennial plant that grows in freshwater springs in upland regions, and in seasonally damp acid grassland in the lowlands. It is widespread throughout the world, except in southern Asia. It is rather variable in morphology, which is reflected in a complex history of taxonomy. Currently, there are three accepted subspecies which are defined largely by the appearance of the seedcoat. It is edible and consumed as a salad in some areas, but is otherwise of minimal economic impact. Because of its association with clean water habitats, it is often viewed as a species of conservation value.
Barringtonia acutangula is a species of Barringtonia native to coastal wetlands in southern Asia and northern Australasia, from Afghanistan east to the Philippines, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Common names include freshwater mangrove, itchytree and mango-pine.
Nymphaea odorata, also known as the American white waterlily, fragrant water-lily, beaver root, fragrant white water lily, white water lily, sweet-scented white water lily, and sweet-scented water lily, is an aquatic plant belonging to the genus Nymphaea. It can commonly be found in shallow lakes, ponds, and permanent slow moving waters throughout North America where it ranges from Central America to northern Canada. It is also reported from Brazil and Guyana.
Oenanthe javanica, commonly Java waterdropwort, water celery, water dropwort, Chinese celery, Indian pennywort, minari and Japanese parsley, is a plant of the genus Oenanthe originating from East Asia. It has a widespread native distribution in temperate Asia and tropical Asia, and is also native to Queensland, Australia.
Stellaria neglecta, greater chickweed, is an annual to short-lived herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia, where it grows in hedges and woodland margins on neutral to slightly acid, damp soils, and is widespread but rarely abundant. It has been introduced to North America, where it has been spreading in recent decades.
Stellaria apetala, lesser chickweed, is an annual herbaceous plant in the flowering plant family Caryophyllaceae. It occurs in short, sandy grassland by the sea and, less often, in similar habitat inland. It is native to Europe and is well established as an introduced species worldwide.
Cistus heterophyllus is a shrubby species of flowering plant in the family Cistaceae.
Stellaria alsine, the bog stitchwort, is a species of herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the carnation family Caryophyllaceae. It grows in bogs and marshes in Europe and parts of North America.
Stellaria pungens, commonly known as prickly starwort, is a flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small, mat forming perennial with white star-shaped flowers and small sharply pointed, bright green leaves.
Stellaria corei, with the common names of Tennessee chickweed, star chickweed, Tennessee starwort, and Tennessee stitchwort, is a species of flowering plant native to parts of Eastern USA.
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