Chickweed is a flowering annual of the Caryophyllaceae family and has a very
slender tap root and greatly branching leafy stems, which lie along the
ground. The plant's weak stems mostly trail along the ground (for up to
about sixteen inches), but the growing ends may be upright (up to eight
inches high). The stems branch very frequently and take root at the leaf
junctions. If you look very closely at the stems, you'll see a single line
of hairs running up the side, and you'll notice that the line changes sides
at each leaf junction.
The leaves are opposite, smooth, and oval (with a
point at the tip), and the older, lower leaves are stalked and vary in size
from 3 to 20 mm in length, they are oval in shape and have long stalks,
while the upper new leaves lack stalks and tend to be larger (up to 25 mm in
length).
Chickweed is just about always flowering, except in the dead of
winter. It has tiny white flowers, about a quarter inch in diameter, in the
leaf axils or in terminal clusters, with five deeply notched petals that
look like ten, and five green sepals that are longer than the petals.
Many
small, white flowers are produced; the stamens have reddish-violet anthers.
The flowers close at night and open in the morning. The flowers develop into
small capsule-like fruits which contain many tiny seeds.
The seeds generally
germinate within a few years, but can remain viable for much longer. A
single plant may produce around 2,500 reddish-brown seeds, which can remain
viable in the soil for 25-40 years.
common names & nomenclature
Chickens and many other birds love chickweed, and eat both the plants and
the seeds, which is how it gets its name.
Also known as:
passerina, adder's mouth, stellaire, indian chickweed, star chickweed, starwort, starweed, augentrosgräs, satin flower, stitchwort, tongue grass, winterweed, alsine media, common chickweed, chickenwort, craches, maruns, chick wattles, mouse ear
