Stellaria media

Chickweed occurs either as an annual species or as a short-lived perennial (3), and produces several generations a year, each one flowering after just 5 weeks of growth (1). It can remain green and often in flower throughout winter (4). The flowers are visited by many small flies and bees (2). A single plant may produce around 2,500 reddish-brown seeds, which can remain viable in the soil for 25-40 years (1). Common chickweeds is highly prized as a food for poultry and cage-birds, and even for humans in small quantities as a vegetable of stir-fries and salads (4).

Common chickweed is a very common weed (3). It is extremely variable in its appearance, but generally it has a very slender tap root and greatly branching leafy stems, which lie along the ground (2). The lower leaves vary in size from 3 to 20 mm in length, they are oval in shape and have long stalks; the upper leaves tend to be larger (up to 25 mm in length) and lack stalks. Many small, white flowers are produced; the stamens have reddish-violet anthers (2).

"Notes: Western Ghats & Eastern Ghats, Naturalized, Native of Mediterranean Region"

This adventive annual plant produces stems about ½–1' long that usually sprawl across the ground. It branches abundantly near the base, but very little toward the tips of the stems. The somewhat succulent stems are green or burgundy; they often have lines of white hairs. Pairs of opposite leaves occur at intervals along these stems. These leaves become larger toward the tips of the stems, spanning ½–1" in length and ¼–½" across. The leaves 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. Each leave is more or less ovate, smooth along the margins, and hairless on the upper surface; the lower surface is occasionally hairy. Individual flowers occur from the axils of the outer pairs of leaves, while the stems terminate in small cymes of white flowers. Each flower is about ¼" across, consisting of 5 white bifid petals (appearing to be 10 petals), 5 green sepals, 3 white styles, 2-10 stamens, and a green ovary in the center. The sepals are lanceolate, hairy on the outer surface, and longer than the petals; each sepal is at least 1/8" long (about 3-5 mm.). The slender pedicels are finely pubescent. The blooming period occurs during the spring for plants that are winter annuals, and during the summer or fall for plants that are summer annuals. A typical plant will bloom sporadically for 1-2 months. Each flower is replaced by a seed capsule that is light brown with 6 small teeth along its upper rim; it contains several seeds. Each mature seed is dark reddish brown, somewhat flattened, and nearly orbicular; its surface has tiny pebbles. The root system is shallow and fibrous. This plant spreads by reseeding itself; it can also spread vegetatively by rooting at the leaf nodes along the stems.

This is probably the best known Chickweed in Illinois, although it can be confused with other species. The Chickweeds fall into 2 large groups

Annual herb with decumbent or ascending stems, 5-40 cm. Lower leaves: petiole c.1.5 cm; lamina c.1 × 1 cm, ovate; base sometimes ± cordate; upper ± sessile, usually larger, ovate or broadly elliptic. Petals slightly shorter than the sepals, white; apex deeply 2-fid, so that there almost appears to be 10 petals rather than 5.

"Maharashtra: Kolhapur, Pune, Satara, Thane Karnataka: Chikmagalur, Coorg, Mysore, N. Kanara Kerala: Idukki Tamil Nadu: Coimbatore, Dindigul, Nilgiri, Salem, Theni"

"

Global Distribution

Cosmopolitan

Indian distribution

State - Kerala, District/s: Idukki

"

Common Chickweed occurs in every county of Illinois and is quite common. It is native to Eurasia. Habitats include woodland areas prone to flooding, thickets, cropland and fallow fields, lawns and gardens, nursery plots, areas adjacent to buildings, and miscellaneous waste areas. While this species occurs to a limited extent in natural habitats, it prefers areas with a history of disturbance.

Mediterranean region.

Cosmopolitan.

Stellaria media (L.) J.C. Sowerby & Sm.:
Bolivia (South America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Stellaria media var. media :
Afghanistan (Asia)
India (Asia)
Pakistan (Asia)
Russian Federation (Asia)
South Korea (Asia)
China (Asia)
Japan (Asia)
Bhutan (Asia)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Stellaria media (L.) Cirillo:
Canada (North America)
Colombia (South America)
Ecuador (South America)
Gabon (Africa & Madagascar)
Greenland (North America)
Madagascar (Africa & Madagascar)
Peru (South America)
United States (North America)
Venezuela (South America)
Bolivia (South America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Alsine media L.:
Bolivia (South America)
United States (North America)
Canada (North America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Stellaria apetala Ucria ex Roem.:
United States (North America)
China (Asia)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Stellaria media (L.) Vill.:
Afghanistan (Asia)
Brazil (South America)
Bhutan (Asia)
Chile (South America)
Ecuador (South America)
Greenland (North America)
Guatemala (Mesoamerica)
Honduras (Mesoamerica)
India (Asia)
Japan (Asia)
Mexico (Mesoamerica)
Peru (South America)
South Africa (Africa & Madagascar)
United States (North America)
Bolivia (South America)
China (Asia)
South Korea (Asia)
Pakistan (Asia)
Russian Federation (Asia)
Venezuela (South America)
Colombia (South America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

introduced; Greenland; St. Pierre and Miquelon; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon; Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis., Wyo.; Europe.

A cosmopolitan weed

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Widespread and common throughout Britain, common chickweed is a cosmopolitan species (2); it has become naturalised in North America, and is now found around the world (3).

Plants annual or winter annual, green, with slender taproot. Stems decumbent or ascending, diffusely branched, 4-sided, 5-40 cm, with single line of hairs along each internode. Leaves petiolate (proximal) or ± sessile (distal); blade usually green, ovate to broadly elliptic, 0.5-4 cm × 2-20 mm, base round to cuneate, margins entire, apex acute or shortly acuminate, ± glabrous or ciliate at base. Inflorescences terminal, 5-many-flowered cymes; bracts ovate and shortly acuminate to lanceolate-acute, 1-40 mm, herbaceous. Pedicels ascending, usually straight, deflexed at base in fruit, 3-40 mm, usually with line of hairs. Flowers 2-5 mm diam.; sepals 5, with obscure midrib, ovate-lanceolate, 4.5-5(-6) mm, margins narrow, scarious, apex obtuse, usually glandular-hairy; petals absent or 5, 1-4 mm, shorter than to equaling sepals; stamens 3-5(-8); anthers red-violet; styles 3, outwardly curved, becoming curled, 0.5-1 mm. Capsules green to straw colored, ovoid-oblong, 3-5 mm, somewhat longer than sepals, apex obtuse, opening by 6 valves; carpophore absent. Seeds reddish brown, broadly reniform to round, 0.9-1.3 mm diam., with obtuse, round, or flat-topped (broader than tall) tubercles. 2n = 40, 42, 44.

Herbs annual, biennial, or perennial. Stems decumbent or ascending, pale purplish, 10--30 cm tall, sparsely branched at base, with 1(or 2) lines of hairs. Basal leaves long petiolate, distal leaves sessile or shortly petiolate; leaf blade broadly ovate to ovate-orbicular, 0.8--2.5 × (0.5--)1--1.5 cm, base narrowed or cordate, apex acuminate or acute. Flowers in sparse terminal or axillary cymes. Pedicel 0.7--1.4 cm, elongate and nodding after anthesis, slender, with 1 line of hairs. Sepals 5, ovate-lanceolate or ovate-oblong, ca. 2--2.5 or 4 mm, outside glandular pubescent, margin broadly membranous, apex slightly obtuse or nearly rounded. Petals oblong, shorter than or subequaling sepals, 2-cleft nearly to base; lobes nearly linear. Stamens 3--5, shorter than petals. Styles 3, linear. Capsule ovoid, slightly longer than persistent sepals, 6-valved. Seeds numerous, red-brown, ovoid to compressed globose, 1--1.2 mm in diam., semiglobose-tuberculate or curved reticulate. Fl. Jun--Jul, fr. Jul--Aug. 2n = 40, 42, 44.

"Erect or diffuse herbs; stem tomentose. Leaves opposite, to 2 x 1.5 cm, ovate, acute, glabrous, lateral nerves form a clear intramarginal vein; petioles 2-3 mm long. Flowers solitary; axillary and terminal; pedicel 1.5 cm long; sepals 3 x 1 mm, oblong, hairy outside; petals 5, 1.3 mm long, 2-fid to base, white; stamens 10, free; ovary 1-celled, ovules few, basal; styles 3, curved, tubercled. Capsule 3 mm long, ovoid; seeds 4-8, 1.2 x 1.2 mm, reniform, tuberculate."

Alsine media Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 272. 1753; Stellaria apetala Ucria ex Roemer; S. media var. procera Klatt & Richter

Common Chickweed occurs in every county of Illinois and is quite common. It is native to Eurasia. Habitats include woodland areas prone to flooding, thickets, cropland and fallow fields, lawns and gardens, nursery plots, areas adjacent to buildings, and miscellaneous waste areas. While this species occurs to a limited extent in natural habitats, it prefers areas with a history of disturbance.

Cultivated ground, waste places, open woodlands; 0-2500m.

Fields. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Sikkim; Europe].

Found in a wide variety of disturbed habitats, particularly in nutrient-rich areas (3). It is a notorious weed of gardens and cultivated areas, and may also occur on walls, new plantations, sewage works and manure heaps, and is a typical feature of coastal strand-lines (3). It has been found in pre-Neolithic deposits, and so it is not dependent on human disturbance for survival (1).

The nectar and pollen of the flowers attract Andrenid bees, Halictid bees, and various kinds of flies, including Syrphid flies, Muscid flies, Flesh flies, and Anthomyiid flies. In the absence of such visitors, the flowers can self-pollinate. The caterpillars of some moths feed on the foliage, including Agrotis venerabilis (Venerable Dart), Haematopis grataria (Chickweed Geometer), Lobocleta ossularia (Drab Brown Wave). Small granivorous songbirds eat the seeds (see Bird Table), while Chickens and possibly some upland gamebirds eat both the foliage and seeds. Among mammalian herbivores, the Cottontail Rabbit and hogs eat the foliage without apparent ill-effect.

Stellaria media (Common Chickweed) introduced
(Insects suck nectar from the flowers; some short-tongued bees also collect pollen, as noted below; most observations are from Robertson, otherwise they are from Krombein et al. and Lewis as indicated below)

Bees (long-tongued)
Apidae (Apinae): Apis mellifera; Anthophoridae (Ceratinini): Ceratina dupla dupla; Anthophoridae (Nomadini): Nomada luteola, Nomada ovatus, Nomada sulphurata; Megachilidae (Osmiini): Osmia lignaria lignaria

Bees (short-tongued)
Halictidae (Halictinae): Augochlorella aurata sn, Augochlorella striata sn fq, Halictus confusus sn, Halictus ligatus sn, Halictus rubicunda sn, Lasioglossum foxii sn, Lasioglossum imitatus sn cp fq, Lasioglossum macoupinensis sn, Lasioglossum obscurus sn, Lasioglossum pilosus pilosus sn, Lasioglossum versatus sn fq; Colletidae (Colletinae): Colletes inaequalis sn; Andrenidae (Andreninae): Andrena andrenoides andrenoides sn, Andrena arabis (Kr), Andrena cressonii sn cp icp, Andrena forbesii sn, Andrena illinoiensis sn, Andrena miserabilis bipunctata sn, Andrena personata sn fq, Andrena sayi sn

Wasps
Chalcididae: Conura torvina; Ichneumonidae: Delomerista novita; Sapygidae: Sapyga centrata

Sawflies
Tenthredinidae: Dolerus unicolor

Flies
Sciaridae: Sciara atrata; Syrphidae: Brachypalpus oarus, Cheilosia capillata, Eristalinus aeneus, Eristalis arbustorum, Eristalis dimidiatus, Eristalis tenax, Eupeodes americanus, Platycheirus obscurus, Platycheirus quadratus, Syritta pipiens, Syrphus ribesii, Toxomerus geminatus, Toxomerus marginatus fq; Tachinidae: Gonia capitata fq, Siphona geniculata; Calliphoridae: Cynomya cadaverina, Lucilia illustris, Lucilia sericata, Pollenia rudis, Protophormia terraenovae; Muscidae: Musca domestica, Myospila meditabunda, Neomyia cornicina; Anthomyiidae: Delia platura; Fanniidae: Fannia manicata; Sphaeroceridae: Copromyza equina; Scathophagidae: Scathophaga furcata

Butterflies
Nymphalidae: Vanessa virginiensis; Lycaenidae: Celastrina argiolus; Pieridae: Pieris rapae (Lw)

Plant Bugs
Lygaeidae: Lygaeus turcicus

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / open feeder
larva of Hypera diversipunctata grazes on leaf of Stellaria media

Foodplant / parasite
mostly hypophyllous uredium of Melampsorella caryophyllacearum parasitises live leaf of Stellaria media
Remarks: Other: uncertain

Foodplant / spot causer
numerous, fuscous pycnidium of Septoria coelomycetous anamorph of Mycosphaerella isariophora causes spots on live/fading stem of Stellaria media
Remarks: season: 5-10

Foodplant / parasite
sporangium of Peronospora alsinearum parasitises live leaf (upper) of seedling of Stellaria media
Remarks: season: 5
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / parasite
hypophyllous telium of Puccinia arenariae parasitises live leaf of Stellaria media

Foodplant / sap sucker
nymph of Stygnocoris rusticus sucks sap of Stellaria media
Remarks: Other: uncertain

Locally common in the E Highlands.

Flowering year-round where climatic conditions permit.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 12
Specimens with Barcodes: 24
Species With Barcodes: 1

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: TNR - Not Yet Ranked

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked

Extremely common and widespread (3).

This species is not threatened.

Not relevant.

Typical growing conditions consist of partial or full sun, moist to mesic conditions, and a fairly fertile loam or clay-loam soil. Light shade and temporary flooding are tolerated.