Vascular Plants of the Gila Wilderness

Presented in Association with the
Western New Mexico University Department of Natural Sciences

Stellaria media (Linnaeus) Villars
(Common Chickweed)

Family: Caryophyllaceae

Status: Exotic

Synonyms:
Alsine media Linnaeus

Stellaria media is much more common elsewhere in the country than it is in the Gila National Forest, where it is found in moist meadows and streambanks at middle to upper elevations in the Ponderosa forest. The seeds are tuberculate and the stems bear a single line of hairs between the nodes. It has small white flowers on reddish stems bearing opposite ovate leaves. The growth habit is prostrate to spreading.
Please click on an image for a larger file.



Stellaria media, photo Russ Kleinman, Black Range, Railroad Canyon, May 7, 2008



Stellaria media, tuberculate (immature) seeds, photo Russ Kleinman, Black Range, Railroad Canyon, May 7, 2008



Stellaria media, line of hairs on internode, photo Russ Kleinman, Black Range, Railroad Canyon, May 7, 2008


Back to the Index