Chickweed

Chickweed (Stellaria media), one of the most common weeds of gardens and cultivated fields, is a species of Stitchwort (q.v.). It is a native of most parts of Europe and of Asia, appearing during the colder months even on the plains of India; an annual, with a weak procumbent stem and ovate leaves, very variable; some of the smaller varieties in dry sunny situations sometimes puzzling young botanists from having no petals or only five or three instead of ten stamens; but always characterised by having the stem curiously marked with a line of hairs, which at each pair of leaves changes from one side to another, and in four changes completes the circuit of the stem. The leaves of chickweed afford a fine instance of the sleep of plants, closing up on the young shoots at night. Chickweed is a good substitute for spinach or greens, although generally little regarded except as a troublesome weed, or gathered only by the poor to make poultices, for which it is very useful, or for feeding cage-birds, which are very fond of its leaves and seeds. A number of species of a nearly allied genus, Cerastium, also bear the name of Chickweed, or Mouse-ear Chickweed, and the name is occasionally given to other plants, either botanically allied, or of somewhat similar appearance.