Ontario Weeds: Mouse-eared chickweed
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Excerpt from Publication 505, Ontario Weeds, Order this publication
Table of Contents
- Name
- Other Names
- Family
- General Description
- Stems and Roots
- Leaves
- Flowers and Fruit
- Habitat
- Similar Species
- Related Links
Name: Mouse-eared chickweed, Cerastium
fontanum Baumg. ssp. triviale (Link) Jalas
Other Names: céraiste vulgaire,
céraiste commun, Cerastium vulgatum L.
Family: Pink Family (Caryophyllaceae)
General Description: Annual or more
usually perennial, reproducing by seed and by horizontal stems which
root at the nodes and form dense patches.
Mouse-eared chickweed.
A. Plant. B. Section of stem with pair of leaves. C. Tip of branch
with 2 seedpots.
Stems & Roots: Stems - nearly
prostrate, as much as 50cm (2ft) long, with short upright branches,
or stems erect if growing amongst taller plants, densely but very
finely hairy, soft, often slightly sticky to the touch, dark green,
round in cross-section with swollen nodes;
Leaves: Opposite (2 per node), stalkless,
ovate (1-2cm, 2/5-4/5in. long) with pointed tips and covered with
hair up to 2mm (1/12in.) long (hence the name "mouse-eared").
Flowers & Fruit: Flowers white,
in compact groups or spreading out with long branches and flower
stalks up to 12mm (½in.) long, sepals 5, green, hairy, (about
as long as the 5 white, deeply notched petals), 4-6mm (1/6-¼in.)
long; seedpod cylindrical and straight or slightly curved, 8-10mm
(1/3-2/5in.) long, light or straw-coloured, opening at the end with
10 small teeth and releasing many, tiny, reddish-brown, roundish
to 4-sided seeds about 0.75mm (1/30in.) long. Flowering and seed-set
continue from late spring until freeze-up in autumn.
Habitat: Mouse-eared chickweed is
common throughout Ontario and occurs in almost any kind of habitat
including gardens, lawns, fields, pastures, meadows, wet depressions,
rock outcrops, dry sandy areas, and under moist woods. It is one
of the most common and persistent weeds of lawns and occasionally
is thick enough to be troublesome in gardens and fields.
Similar Species: It is distinguished from
other chickweeds, Grass-leaved stitchwort and Thyme-leaved sandwort
by its distinctly hairy stem and stalkless leaves covered with long
hair on both surfaces, and its cylindrical, light-coloured seedpods.
Related Links
... on general Weed
topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA
Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA
Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control
For more information:
Toll Free: 1-877-424-1300
E-mail: ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca