Star Chickweed
Stellaria pubera
Click or tap the section titles below to learn more about this species!
CLASSIFICATION: What’s in a name?
Scientific Name: Stellaria pubera. The genus, Stellaria, comes from the Latin word stella, meaning “star,” while the Latin word pubera translates as “hairy.”
Common Name: Star chickweed, giant chickweed, great chickweed. There are many varieties of chickweed, a name refers to the fact that chickens enjoy eating it.1 This plant bears the descriptive term “star” to refer to its star-like flowers. Do you know what a “wort” is? That’s a name historically used to refer to an herbaceous plant. So another common name for Stellaria pubera is common starwort.
Family: Caryophyllaceae (Pink family) A large family containing nearly 3000 species, including well-known ornamental flowers such as pinks, campions and carnations. Plants in the pink family have stems that are swollen where leaves arise. The leaves are entire (untoothed) and usually opposite or sometimes whorled. The flowers are typically regular, with 4-5 sepals, and 4-5 petals. The seeds are normally found in fruit capsules with a single compartment.2
IDENTIFICATION: What does it look like?
Average Height: from 6” to 12”
Description: A perennial plant that grows from rhizomes. The 4-sided stems have two lines of soft hairs. Remember – the species name pubera means hairy! The medium to dark green leaves are hairy on their upper surface, oval in shape, wider at or below the middle, and up to 3” long and 1¼” wide. The leaves are attached opposite each other on the stem and have little or no petiole (leaf stalk). The flowers have 5 green sepals, 5 white petals, 10 stamens, and measure about ½” across. Did you count the petals? It may seem there are 10 petals but this is because each of the 5 petals is so deeply cleft! The seeds are contained in a round capsule.2,3,4
Bloom time: Apr – Jun
Notes: This species produces both sterile (non-flowering) and fertile shoots. The leaves associated with the sterile shoots are so much larger and differently shaped (than the leaves of the fertile shoot) that you may think it is a different species!2
LOCATION: Where is it at home?
Range: Common in the Piedmont and the mountains, this plant is found infrequently or rarely in the Coastal Plain.2,5
Geology/Soil: Prefers nutrient-rich soils where it grows more plentifully, but may also grow in other soil types.2,5
Habitat: Associated with moist to dry forests and rich deciduous woods and bottomlands.2,4,5
CONNECTIONS: What are its relationships to other plants, animals, and humans?
Flora associations: Here at Riverview Park, you can see it growing near other spring-blooming wildflowers such as bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), early saxifrage (Micranthes virginica), and cut-leaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata).
Fauna associations: The nectar of the plant is attractive to a variety of bees and flies, including cuckoo bees (Nomada spp.), mason bees (Osmia spp.), miner bees (Andrena spp.), sweat bees (Augochlorella spp., Lasioglossum spp.), the giant bee fly (Bombylius major) and hover flies.3 In addition the chickweed geometer moth (Haematopis grataria) uses chickweed as a host plant.7
Human associations: Star chickweed is edible and the leaves may be eaten raw or cooked, although they do contain saponins which are toxic. In herbal medicine, chickweed has been used for treating itchy skin.6
We want these plants to thrive and for everyone who gets to visit the park to enjoy them, so remember – don’t pick flowers or other parts of the plant!!
Bibliography & Definitions
1 “Stellaria Media (Birdweed, Chickenwort, Chickweed, Common Chickweed, Starweed, Starwort, Winterweed) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox.” Plants.ces.ncsu.edu, plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/stellaria-media/. Accessed 1 Mar. 2024.
2 Weakley, A.S., J.C. Ludwig, and J.F. Townsend. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Bland Crowder, ed. Foundation of the Flora of Virginia Project, Inc., Richmond. Fort Worth: Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press, pp. 480, 496.
3 “Star Chickweed (Stellaria Pubera).” www.illinoiswildflowers.info, www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/star_chickweed.htm. Accessed 1 Mar. 2024.
4 “Stellaria Pubera – FNA.” Floranorthamerica.org, 5 Nov. 2020, floranorthamerica.org/Stellaria_pubera. Accessed 1 Mar. 2024.
5 “Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora | Stellaria Pubera Michx.” Vaplantatlas.org, vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=2485&search=Search. Accessed 1 Mar. 2024.
6 “Stellaria Pubera (Giant Chickweed, Star Chickweed) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox.” Plants.ces.ncsu.edu, plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/stellaria-pubera/. Accessed 1 Mar. 2024.
7 Wagner, David L. Caterpillars of Eastern North America : A Guide to Identification and Natural History. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, 2005, p. 205.
Definitions:
Spring ephemeral: A perennial plant which grows early in the spring – before the trees grow leaves – to take advantage of the sunlight reaching the forest floor. In less than 2 months, the plant grows, blooms, and produces seed and then disappears from view as the leaves die back.