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Stellaria media

COMMON CHICKWEED


Higher Taxonomy
Family: CaryophyllaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: PINK FAMILY
Habit: Annual to perennial herb; rarely dioecious (Silene), taprooted or rhizome generally slender. Leaf: simple, generally opposite (subwhorled), entire, pairs at nodes often +- connected at bases; stipules generally 0; petiole generally 0. Inflorescence: generally cyme, generally open; flowers 1--many; involucre generally 0 (present in most Dianthus, Petrorhagia). Flower: generally bisexual, radial; hypanthium often present but obscure; sepals (4)5, +- free or fused into a tube, margins generally scarious, more so on inner 2 or not, tube generally not scarious, awns generally 0; petals (4)5 or 0, generally tapered to base (or with claw long, limb expanded), entire to 2--several-lobed, limb generally without scale-like appendages adaxially, generally without ear-like lobes at base; stamens generally 10, generally fertile, generally free, generally from ovary base; nectaries 0 or 5; ovary superior, generally 1-chambered, placentas basal or free-central, styles 2--5 with 0 branches or 1 with 2--3 branches. Fruit: capsule or utricle (rarely +- dehiscent), generally sessile. Seed: appendage generally 0 (present in Moehringia).
Genera In Family: +- 100 genera, 3000 species: widespread, especially arctic, alpine, temperate northern hemisphere; some cultivated (Agrostemma, Arenaria, Atocion, Cerastium, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Lychnis, Sagina, Saponaria, Silene). Note: Apetalous Caryophyllaceae can also be keyed in Rabeler & Hartman 2005 FNANM 5:5--8. Taxa of Minuartia in TJM2 treated here in Cherleria and Sabulina; Pseudostellaria in Hartmaniella and Torreyostellaria; Vaccaria in Gypsophila; Velezia in Dianthus.
eFlora Treatment Author: Ronald L. Hartman (deceased) & Richard K. Rabeler, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Bruce G. Baldwin & Thomas J. Rosatti.
Genus: StellariaView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: CHICKWEED, STARWORT
Habit: Annual, perennial herb, erect to prostrate; taprooted, rhizomed. Stem: 4-angled or round. Leaf: petioled or not; linear to ovate, vein 1. Inflorescence: terminal or axillary, umbel-like or not, open to dense; flowers 1--many (if 1, axillary); peduncles, pedicels 0.8--50+ mm. Flower: sepals 5(6), free, 1.5--5.5 mm, lanceolate to ovate, glabrous to glandular-hairy, ribs in fruit 1--3, generally visible to prominent; petals 0 or (1)5, 0.8--7 mm, 2-lobed > 1/2 to base; stamens 10 or fewer; styles 3(4--5 in Stellaria calycantha), 0.2--2.8 mm. Fruit: capsule, +- ovoid or spheric to cylindric-oblong; valves 6(8,10), ascending to recurved. Seed: several to many, brown to +- yellow, +- red, or purple-brown.
Etymology: (Latin: star, from flower shape) Note: Presence of papillae on leaf margins determined at 20×. Stellaria obtusa now treated in Engellaria.
eFlora Treatment Author: Ronald L. Hartman (deceased) & Richard K. Rabeler
Reference: Morton 2005 FNANM 5:96--114; Sharples & Tripp 2019 Syst Bot 44:857--876.
Unabridged Reference: Chinnappa & Morton 1991 Rhodora 93:129--135; Morton & Rabeler 1989 Canad J Bot 67:121--127; Morton 2005 FNANM 5:96--114
Stellaria media (L.) Vill.
NATURALIZED
Habit: Annual but often over-wintering, prostrate to erect, 7--50 cm; taproot slender. Stem: internode hairs in line. Leaf: +- evenly spaced; blade 8--45 mm, +- ovate; margin +- not papillate, +- flat, shiny, often ciliate near base. Inflorescence: terminal or axillary, few-flowered, +- dense; bracts leaf-like; pedicels spreading to erect, in fruit curved to reflexed. Flower: sepals 5, 3--4.5 mm, > 6 mm in fruit, lanceolate to ovate, acute to obtuse, glabrous or +- glandular-hairy, margin +- widely scarious, ribs often 1 or 3 near base; petals 5, 0.7--0.9 × sepals. Seed: 0.9--1.3 mm, dark red-brown to brown, tubercles rounded. Chromosomes: 2n=40,42,44.
Ecology: Oak woodland, meadows, disturbed areas; Elevation: < 1500 m. Bioregional Distribution: NW, CaRH, n&c SNF, n SNH, GV, CCo, SnFrB, SCo, ChI, DSon; Distribution Outside California: North America; native to southwestern Europe. Flowering Time: Feb--Sep Note: Often a pernicious urban weed; sometimes difficult to distinguish from Stellaria neglecta, Stellaria pallida.
Jepson eFlora Author: Ronald L. Hartman (deceased) & Richard K. Rabeler
Reference: Morton 2005 FNANM 5:96--114; Sharples & Tripp 2019 Syst Bot 44:857--876.
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Stellaria longipes subsp. longipes
Next taxon: Stellaria neglecta


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Citation for this treatment: Ronald L. Hartman (deceased) & Richard K. Rabeler 2012, Stellaria media, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=45497, accessed on December 02, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on December 02, 2024.

Stellaria media
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©2010 Neal Kramer
Stellaria media
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©2005 George W. Hartwell
Stellaria media
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©2008 Steve Matson
Stellaria media
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©2008 Keir Morse
Stellaria media
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©2007 Neal Kramer

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Geographic subdivisions for Stellaria media:
NW, CaRH, n&c SNF, n SNH, GV, CCo, SnFrB, SCo, ChI, DSon
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map of distribution 1

(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurrence).






 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.

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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues.
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CCH collections by month Flowering-Fruiting Monthly Counts

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).