Edible plant - Novice Season - All year Common names Common chickweed, starweed
Scientific name meaning: Stellaria is derived from the Latin word “stella", meaning star, and a reference to the shape of chickweed's flowers. Media is also of Latin origin meaning "in between" or "in the middle"
Habitat Chickweed is a very common plant and classed by many as a garden weed. It likes to grow on disturbed soil, so can be found in garden borders, plant pots, agricultural land, and under trees where animals forage. It can be found all year round but does not like extreme heat or cold. |
Overall structure Chickweed is a spreading plant forming matts of long, thin stems that can reach up to 1m. The plant is initially upright, but lays on the ground as its stems get longer. It is fast growing and shallow rooting and easily lifted from the ground. |
Leaves The oval leaves are arranged in widely spaced opposing pairs along the stem, becoming more closer together at the stem tip. There is often new stem growth beginning at the leaf axil (where the leaf stem meets the plant stem). These stems create the dense mat of the entire plant. The leaf stems (petioles) are hairy. |
Stem Between each pair of leaves a fine single line of hair runs along the stem. This row of hair does not run along the same line down the entire plant stem. Instead, each line of hair follows its own straight line between two leaf pairs. |
Flower The star-like flowers are white and have five petals but deep splits down the middle of each petal give the false appearance of 10 petals. |
Possible lookalikes Both spurges (common spurge, pictured), which are toxic, and scarlet pimpernel, can grow in the same habitat and in a similar manner to chickweed. However, neither has the single spine of hair down the stem that chickweed has. Once flowered, scarlet pimpernel has red flowers or blue flowers and spurge's are green-yellow. Chickweed has white flowers. |
Use as a food Chickweed can be eaten as a salad leaf, where its flavour is somewhat spinach-like and can be mildly salty. It can also be used as a cooked green (please see hazards below).
Hazards The plant contains saponins, which are toxic. However, saponins are poorly absorbed by the human body so a large quantity needs to ingested before problems arise. Saponins are found in lots of plants consumed regularly by humans but can be very toxic to other animals.
Pregnant and breast-feeding woman are advised against consuming excessively large or regular quantities of saponin-containing foods.
Use in herbal medicine and medicine Chickweed has been used as a herbal medicine to treat many conditions such as skin irritations, roseola infantum, chest complaints, inflammation, menstrual pain, arthritic pain, constipation, ulcers, wounds, circulatory disorders, and kidney problems.
If you are suffering from any ailment or need medical advice, please see your General Practitioner Importance to other species As it flowers all year round, chickweed is important for pollinators. It also provides food for small birds. And, caged birds love it, which is where its common name comes from
Always stay safe when foraging. You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!
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