Stellaria media (L.) Vill.
common chickweed (common starwort)
Caryophyllaceae (Pink family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
common chickweed (common starwort)
Caryophyllaceae (Pink family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a slender rhizome; stems decumbent, rooting nodally, hairy in longitudinal lines, several, branched, often matted, 7-50 cm long.
Leaves:
basal leaves lacking; stem leaves opposite, stalked below, unstalked above, egg-shaped to elliptic, 0.5-4.5 cm long, 0.5-1.5 mm wide, fleshy, hairy; stipules lacking.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of single flowers in the leaf axils or terminal flowers in an open cluster; petals 5, white, deeply 2-cleft, 2-3 mm long; sepals 5, oblong-lanceolate, 3-4.5 mm long, hairy and more or less glandular.
Fruits:
Capsules straw-coloured, egg-shaped, 4-5 mm long, 6-valved; seeds about 0.9-1.3 mm long, reddish-brown, minutely roughened.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Stellaria media
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
489 | 24 | 2058 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
23 | 0 | 84 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
164 | 24 | 340 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 1 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
44 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
CDF(23), CWH(2), ESSF(2), ICH(1), IDF(2), PP(2), SBS(6) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
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