By Mary Free, Extension Master Gardener
As waning winter and early spring bring rising temperatures and daffodil blooms, you may notice tiny white flowers strewn through the lawn—some clustered in clumps and others scattered in dense mats. Tiny, 4-petaled flowers atop 4–10-inch, upright stems that rise above persistent basal rosettes are non-native hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta). Plants with a horizontal, creeping habit and tiny, 5-petaled flowers, which may appear to have 10 petals, are chickweed. The two likely chickweed candidates are non-native. A native chickweed blooms later in spring.
Although the introduced species, especially, are often considered weeds or invasive plants (see Table footnote), they all offer benefits to consider. Early season bloomers provide important sustenance to bees and other pollinators and they serve as larval hosts for some lepidopterans. Chickweeds have had a number of ethnobotanic uses, including application as a salve for skin irritation. Many are edible, providing food to animals, including poultry and song birds (hence their common name) and small mammals as well as to humans. Best harvested when the plant is young or in bloom, leaves do contain a toxin, saponin, but it generally passes through the body without injury and is mostly broken down by cooking. Consult an authoritative field or foraging guide for more information on the edibility/palatability of various chickweed species and how to prepare them for consumption (see note below). Remember, if you intend to eat chickweed, make sure it has grown in an area that has not been sprayed with chemicals or heavily traveled.
![Non-native Cerastium fontanum syn. Cerastium vulgatum (common mouse-ear chickweed) in May. Photo © Lawn Weeds CC BY 2.0 [cropped from original]](https://i0.wp.com/mgnv.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/49195216547_cf81e29111_o.jpg?ssl=1)
Common chickweed (Stellaria media): This introduced, deciduous to semi-evergreen winter annual can grow at 36 degrees F and “survive air temperatures as low as 14 degrees F” (Wertz). It can outcompete other plants in early spring by spreading rapidly—primarily by seed (it usually germinates in late summer or early fall) or sometimes by rooting from the nodes of stems in suitable conditions, such as partial shade and rich, damp, disturbed soil (Turkington, 1980). Blooming occurs on and off for up to two months in early spring. The flower’s five petals are so deeply lobed that once the flower fully expands and the two lobes of each petal separate, the flower appears to have 10 petals. Another diagnostic feature of this species is the one row of whitish stem hairs that alternate sides from one internode to the next as if spiraling around the stem. This is the most commonly consumed chickweed, and its leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds are all edible.
Photo © Mary Free
Mouse-ear chickweed (Cerastium fontanum syn. Cerastium vulgatum): This short-lived perennial can produce flowers from May to October and germinate from late summer to fall as well as early spring. It overwinters as a compact rosette and reseeds itself or spreads by rooting at the nodes, forming dense mats. Distinguishing features are the dense hairs covering the stems, leaves, and pedicels.
Photo © Elaine Mills
Star chickweed (Stellaria pubera): The flowers of this native perennial are showier, being about twice the size of common chickweed, and bloom for about a month in mid-to-late spring. Some sources say it has a taproot with fine fibrous roots, but Flora of North America and Flora of Virginia describe it as rhizomatous. It may form small colonies.
| Chickweed Species | Leaf | Stem | Roots | Inflorescence | Flower | Fruit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common Chickweed* (Stellaria media) | up to ¾-inch long, opposite, ovate to elliptic, glabrous above, sometimes hairy below and at the base, sharp pointed tip, bright light-green; slightly hairy petioles shorten and leaves lengthen ascending the stem; upper leaves may be sessile | 3–15-inch long, four-sided, green or burgundy with one row of whitish hairs, alternating sides from one internode to the next; prostrate to decumbent, much branched | shallow, fibrous; stems may root at the nodes | terminal branched clusters (cymes) or solitary flowers in upper leaf axils | up to ¼-inch diameter with: five glandular pubescent, green sepals (conspicuously longer than the petals); five bifid (almost to the base) white petals, if present; two-to-10 stamens; three white styles; light green ovary | ovoid, denticidal seed capsule with six small teeth |
| Mouse-ear Chickweed* (Cerastium fontanum syn. Cerastium vulgatum) | up to 1-inch long, opposite, ovate to elliptic or oblanceolate to spatulate, densely pubescent, sessile, dark green | 2–20-inch long, round, hirsute, green or purple; ~4-inch erect fertile stems, decumbent sterile stems much branched at the base | mostly fibrous; stems root at the nodes | dichotomous cymes with densely hairy pedicels | up to ¼-inch diameter with: five shorter, finely-pubescent sepals; five bifid white petals; usually 10 stamens with yellow anthers; five styles; light green ovary | cylindrical, denticidal capsule with 10 teeth |
| Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera) | ½–3-inch long, opposite, elliptic to lanceolate or ovate, finely pubescent with ciliate margins, medium to dark green; mostly sessile, although lower leaves may have short petioles; “larger leaves on sterile shoots” vary greatly from those on fertile shoots so that they may appear to be of a different species (Weakley, 2012) | glabrous to slightly pubescent green to purplish green with two fine hairy lines; erect or decumbent, branching | rhizomes | terminal cymes or occasionally solitary flowers in upper leaf axils with pubescent pedicels | up to ½-inch diameter with: five green sepals, five bifid white petals, 10 stamens with reddish anthers, a white ovary topped by three styles | ovoid, six-toothed denticidal capsule |
*Stellaria media is considered moderately invasive in Virginia. However, Alexandria and Arlington treat both S. media and Cerastium fontanum differently. Alexandria excludes both species from its invasive plant list, referring to them rather as “widespread, early spring-blooming annuals of lawns and open disturbed areas.” Although Arlington also excludes species, which are “primarily weeds of lawns, gardens, road edges, and other highly disturbed places,” it lists both species as invasive, apparently because it has found them regularly invading natural areas. Check with your local extension office to determine if they are invasive where you live.
Photo © Mary Free
Chickweeds cannot thrive in a healthy, dense turf, so a well-maintained lawn and mulched gardens are the best defense in preventing chickweeds from becoming established. Mow regularly at the correct height for your type of turfgrass and leave the grass clippings to naturally fertilize the lawn. Reseed thin patches with a mix matched to the site’s conditions, aerate if needed, and water deeply but infrequently. This will ameliorate conditions—thin vegetation, compacted ground, and consistently moist or poorly drained soils—in which many chickweeds thrive. In gardens, an organic mulch at least two inches deep or landscape fabric covered with rock or bark will serve as a physical barrier.
In the spring and fall, control is important. Non-native chickweeds’ shallow root system allows for fairly easy hand removal, especially when young, patches are small, and spreading stems have not yet rooted. For larger patches use a hoe and try to remove all of the plant parts. Tend to the plants in early spring, preferably before flowering and before the fruit capsules ripen, but do not compost them—place them in the trash so they do not root or set seed. It has been reported that seeds can remain viable in the soil after 10 years and one study “claimed that a proportion of seeds will survive more than 60 yr[s.] when deeply buried under grass.” (Turkington, 1980) Herbicide use should be a last resort, but if needed, heavy infestations are best treated in the spring or fall (see VCE Home Grounds & Animals, 2026 Pest Management Guide, Broadleaf Weed Control Table).
NOTE: Plants in the wild should not be eaten without consulting an expert or authoritative field guides for information on identification and food preparation. It is easy to confuse plants in the wild, so you should be 100% sure they are edible before consuming them.
References
Common chickweed. Michigan State University Extension.
Common Turf Weeds. Virginia Cooperative Extension.
Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico [Online]. 25+ vols. New York and Oxford. http://beta.floranorthamerica.org. (accessed October 23–27, 2025)
Illinois Wildflowers, © 2002-2020 by John Hilty. (http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/index.htm accessed May 31, 2025).
Minnesota Wildflowers. https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/
North Carolina Plant Toolbox. North Carolina Cooperative Extension. http://plants.ces.ncsu.edu
Turkington R, Kenkel NC, Franko GD. 1980. The biology of Canadian weeds. 42. Stellaria media (L.) Vill. Canadian Journal of Plant Science. 60(3): 981-992. DOI: 10.4141/cjps80-141
Weakley AS, Ludwig JC, Townsend JF. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Botanical Research Institute of Texas. pages 483, 496.
Wertz BA. Common Chickweed (Stellaria media). Weed Identification 28. Cooperative Extension. Penn State College of Agriculture. (accessed from Maine.gov copyright © 2022)
Wertz BA. Mouse-Ear Chickweed (Cerastium vulgatum). Weed Identification 18. Cooperative Extension. Penn State College of Agriculture. (accessed from Maine.gov copyright © 2022)