Eastern Forest Threat Center - Common Chickweed

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Common chickweed with flower

Common chickweed with flower

Ohio State University Weed Lab Archive, Bugwood.org

Common Chickweed
Stellaria media

Common chickweed, native to Europe, is found in a wide variety of habitats.

Keywords: Caryophyllaceae, winter annual, hairy stems, seed capsule, fibrous root system, dense mats, shading; Common names: chickweed, nodding chickweed

Distribution Map Distribution Source Image

Threat Description

Common chickweed is a winter annual plant that grows up to 12 in. tall. Stems are light green in color with hairs in vertical rows, usually running prostrate along the ground and rooting at the nodes, with the upper portion erect or ascending and freely branching. Small, opposite, oval to elliptic leaves are ½-1½ in. in length, light green in color, and smooth or hairy toward the base and petioles. Small star-shaped flowers, consisting of 5 deeply lobed white petals, grow alone or in small clusters at the ends of stems. Fruit is an oval, straw-colored capsule containing many tiny reddish brown seeds. Seed output can be from 600 to 15,000 per plant. Common chickweed reproduces by seed and vegetatively through a fibrous root system. It is found along disturbed lands, cultivated fields, waste places, trails, roadsides, forests, and gardens. It can readily tolerate very low temperatures, and can even flower and fruit under a snow cover. Common chickweed is able to create dense mats of shoots up to 12 in. long that shade young seedlings of other plants. It invades, spreads, and outcompetes other spring annuals and is reported to contain poisonous glycosides and high nitrate levels.