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What does Chickweed look like and where does it grow?
Chickweed, whose botanical name is Stellaria media, is an annual herb of the carnation family (Caryophyllaceae), genus Stellaria. It is distributed worldwide and blooms all year round in temperate climates where the ground is fallow, preferably in vegetable beds. Their up to 40 centimeters thin, long stems mostly wind near the ground. The confused growth and the fact that poultry is very fond of it, has also brought the “star-shaped” the popular name chicken intestine. However, other names such as chicken bite, bird stalk, canary herb, mouse gut, bird stalk, star herb or bird star chickweed can also be found for the common chickweed.
A line of hairs on one side of the hairy stalk is characteristic. The leaves are oval and pointed. The small flowers consist of five green sepals and white petals. Each plant produces between 10,000 and 20,000 seeds in its short life. On moist, nitrogen-rich soil, two to three generations of the plant can develop each year. Fallow areas are quickly covered with a cushion of wildly jumbled shoots. This makes chickweed a weed on the one hand, but also a soil protection against dehydration, frost and erosion.
When do you find Chickweed?
The annual plant is one of the first greens in the spring garden. A few plus degrees are enough for her to drift. In rather mild winters, its shoots can even be found under a blanket of snow, where sub-zero temperatures do not harm it. The main flowering period is from March to October. When it rains, however, the flowers of the plant remain closed.
