Whole Plant Traits: Plant Type: Edible Native Plant Wildflower Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics: Deciduous Habit/Form: Horizontal Spreading Growth Rate: Rapid Maintenance: Low Texture: Medium.Edibility: Leaves and seeds can be eaten raw. Life Cycle: Perennial Recommended Propagation Strategy: Seed Country Or Region Of Origin: Eastern Central & Eastern U.S.A Distribution: throughout Wildlife Value: Attracts bees and other polinators. A food plant for the caterpillars of many butterfly species. Attributes: Genus: Stellaria Species: pubera Family: Caryophyllaceae Uses (Ethnobotany): Pollinated by bees and noted for attracting wildlife.Tags: #full sun tolerant #white flowers #weeds #edible weed #NC native #summer flowers #spring interest #edible garden #wildflower garden #food source summer #food source herbage #food source nectar #food source pollen #partial shade tolerant #bee friendly #Audubon See this plant in the following landscape: Cultivars / Varieties: They are also broken down by thorough cooking. The leaves contain saponins, which, although toxic, are very poorly absorbed by the body and tend to pass through without causing harm.
Young shoots and tender tips of shoots can be eaten raw, cooked, or dried for tea. Chickweed has a long history of herbal use, being particularly beneficial in the external treatment of any kind of itching skin condition.ĭiseases, Insects, and Other Plant Problems: The seed can be ground into a powder and used in making bread or to thicken soups. The leaves contain saponins so some caution is advised. The cooked leaves can scarcely be distinguished from spring spinach. Young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked or added to salads. The leaves fold up of a night time, enfolding and protecting the tender buds of new shoots. A very common garden weed, the flowers open in the morning and remain open for about 12 hours. The plant is easy to grow and can be very lush and vigorous when grown in a fertile soil, but in infertile soils it will flower and set seed while still very small. The soil should be well-drained but consistently moist, with an abundance of organic matter and a layer of decaying leaves. Star Chickweed prefers dappled sunlight to light shade during the spring, followed by light to medium shade. Small colonies of plants are occasionally formed. The root system consists of a taproot with slender fibrous roots. The blooming period occurs from mid- to late spring and lasts about a month. The central stem of each fertile shoot produces a terminal cyme of flowers occasional individual flowers may develop from the axils of the upper leaves. Infertile shoots develop later in the year and don't produce flowers. The plant produces both fertile and infertile shoots. It is in leaf all year, in flower all year, and the seeds ripen all year. Of all the Chickweeds, Star Chickweed is probably the most attractive due to its star-shaped white flowers. Stellaria pubera, or Star Chickweed, is a perennial herbaceous wildflower in the carnation family about 6 to 12 inches tall and sparingly branched. Phonetic Spelling stell-AR-ee-uh PUB-er-uh Description