Stellaria

Stellaria is a genus of about 190 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, with a cosmopolitan distribution. Common names include starwort,<ref>Template:PLANTS</ref> stitchwort and chickweed.

Description

Stellaria species are relatively small herbs with simple opposite leaves. It produces small flowers with 5 sepals and 5 white petals each usually deeply cleft, or none at all, all free. Stamens 10 or fewer.<ref>Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. Webb's An Irish Flora. Cork University Press. Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg, E.F. 1968. Excursion Flora of the British Isles. Template:ISBN</ref>

Uses

Some species, including Stellaria media which is widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, are used as leaf vegetables, often raw in salads. This is a favored food of finches and many other seed-eating birds.

Chickweeds are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including angle shades, heart and dart, riband wave, setaceous Hebrew character and the Coleophora case-bearers C. coenosipennella (feeds exclusively on Stellaria species), C. lineolea (recorded on S. graminea), C. lithargyrinella (recorded on S. holostea), C. solitariella (feeds exclusively on S. holostea) and C. striatipennella.

Several closely related plants referred to as chickweed, but which lack the culinary properties of plants in the genus Stellaria, include members of the genus Cerastium, of similar appearance to Stellaria and also in the (Caryophyllaceae).

Species

Lesser stitchwort, Stellaria graminea

The following species are recognised in the genus Stellaria:<ref name = powo/> Template:Div col

• Stellaria abadensis Template:Small
• Stellaria × adulterina Template:Small
• Stellaria alaschanica Template:Small
• Stellaria alaskana Template:Small
• Stellaria alpamarcae Template:Small
• Stellaria × alpestris Template:Small
• Stellaria alsine Template:Small – bog stitchwort
• Stellaria alsinoides Template:Small
• Stellaria altimontana Template:Small
• Stellaria × ambigua Template:Small
• Stellaria amblyosepala Template:Small
• Stellaria amplexicaulis Template:Small
• Stellaria anagalloides Template:Small
• Stellaria andina Template:Small
• Stellaria angarae Template:Small
• Stellaria angustifolia Template:Small
• Stellaria antillana Template:Small
• Stellaria apetala Template:Small
• Stellaria aphanantha Template:Small
• Stellaria aphananthoidea Template:Small
• Stellaria apurimacensis Template:Small
• Stellaria aquatica Template:Small – water chickweed
• Stellaria arenarioides Template:Small
• Stellaria arvalis Template:Small
• Stellaria assadii Template:Small
• Stellaria australis Template:Small
• Stellaria bayanensis Template:Small
• Stellaria bengalensis Template:Small
• Stellaria borealis Template:Small
• Stellaria brachypetala Template:Small
• Stellaria bungeana Template:Small
• Stellaria calycantha Template:Small
• Stellaria celsa Template:Small
• Stellaria chilensis Template:Small
• Stellaria chinensis Template:Small
• Stellaria circinata Template:Small
• Stellaria concinna Template:Small
• Stellaria congesta Template:Small
• Stellaria congestiflora Template:Small
• Stellaria corei Template:Small
• Stellaria crassifolia Template:Small
• Stellaria crispa Template:Small
• Stellaria cryptantha Template:Small
• Stellaria cryptopetala Template:Small
• Stellaria cuonaensis Template:Small
• Stellaria cupaniana Template:Small
• Stellaria cuspidata Template:Small
• Stellaria darvasievii Template:Small
• Stellaria davurica Template:Small
• Stellaria debilis Template:Small
• Stellaria decipiens Template:Small
• Stellaria decumbens Template:Small
• Stellaria depauperata Template:Small
• Stellaria depressa Template:Small
• Stellaria dianthifolia Template:Small
• Stellaria dicranoides Template:Small
• Stellaria discolor Template:Small
• Stellaria edwardsii Template:Small
• Stellaria emirnensis Template:Small
• Stellaria engleriana Template:Small
• Stellaria erecta Template:Small
• Stellaria erlangeriana Template:Small
• Stellaria eschscholtziana Template:Small
• Stellaria fennica Template:Small
• Stellaria fenzlii Template:Small
• Stellaria filicaulis Template:Small
• Stellaria filiformis Template:Small
• Stellaria fischeriana Template:Small
• Stellaria flaccida Template:Small – forest starwort
• Stellaria galianoi Template:Small
• Stellaria × glauciformis Template:Small
• Stellaria gracilenta Template:Small
• Stellaria graminea Template:Small – lesser stitchwort
• Stellaria gyangtseensis Template:Small
• Stellaria gyirongensis Template:Small
• Stellaria hebecalyx Template:Small
• Stellaria henryi Template:Small
• Stellaria hibinoi Template:Small
• Stellaria hintoniorum Template:Small
• Stellaria humifusa Template:Small – saltmarsh starwort
• Stellaria × hybrida Template:Small
• Stellaria imbricata Template:Small
• Stellaria infracta Template:Small
• Stellaria inundata Template:Small
• Stellaria irazuensis Template:Small
• Stellaria irrigua Template:Small
• Stellaria jacutica Template:Small
• Stellaria keraiopetala Template:Small
• Stellaria koelzii Template:Small
• Stellaria kolymensis Template:Small
• Stellaria krylovii Template:Small
• Stellaria laeta Template:Small
• Stellaria laevis Template:Small
• Stellaria lanata Template:Small
• Stellaria × lancifolia Template:Small
• Stellaria lanipes Template:Small
• Stellaria laxmannii Template:Small
• Stellaria leptoclada Template:Small
• Stellaria littoralis Template:Small
• Stellaria longifolia Template:Small
• Stellaria longipedicellata Template:Small
• Stellaria longipes Template:Small – long-stalk starwort
• Stellaria macbridei Template:Small
• Stellaria macrophylla Template:Small
• Stellaria mainlingensis Template:Small
• Stellaria mannii Template:Small
• Stellaria mcclintockiae Template:Small
• Stellaria media Template:Small – common chickweed
• Stellaria merzbacheri Template:Small
• Stellaria miahuatlana Template:Small
• Stellaria minuta Template:Small
• Stellaria montioides Template:Small
• Stellaria multiflora Template:Small
• Stellaria multipartita Template:Small
• Stellaria neglecta Template:Small – greater chickweed
• Stellaria nemorum Template:Small – wood stitchwort
• Stellaria neotomentosa Template:Small
• Stellaria nepalensis Template:Small
• Stellaria nipponica Template:Small
• Stellaria nitens Template:Small
• Stellaria nubigena Template:Small
• Stellaria omeiensis Template:Small
• Stellaria ovata Template:Small
• Stellaria ovatifolia Template:Small
• Stellaria oxycoccoides Template:Small
• Stellaria palustris Template:Small – marsh stitchwort
• Stellaria papillata Template:Small
• Stellaria parviflora Template:Small
• Stellaria parviumbellata Template:Small
• Stellaria patagonica Template:Small
• Stellaria patens Template:Small
• Stellaria pauciflora Template:Small
• Stellaria pedersenii Template:Small
• Stellaria peduncularis Template:Small
• Stellaria pedunculosa Template:Small
• Stellaria pentastyla Template:Small
• Stellaria persica Template:Small
• Stellaria petiolaris Template:Small
• Stellaria pilosoides Template:Small
• Stellaria pinvalliaca Template:Small
• Stellaria polyantha Template:Small
• Stellaria porsildii Template:Small
• Stellaria procumbens Template:Small
• Stellaria pterosperma Template:Small
• Stellaria pubera Template:Small – star chickweed
• Stellaria pulvinata Template:Small
• Stellaria pungens Template:Small – prickly starwort
• Stellaria pusilla Template:Small
• Stellaria radians Template:Small
• Stellaria rajbhandaryi Template:Small
• Stellaria recurvata Template:Small
• Stellaria reticulivena Template:Small
• Stellaria rigida Template:Small
• Stellaria roughii Template:Small
• Stellaria ruderalis Template:Small
• Stellaria ruscifolia Template:Small
• Stellaria salicifolia Template:Small
• Stellaria sanjuanensis Template:Small
• Stellaria sarcophylla Template:Small
• Stellaria schischkinii Template:Small
• Stellaria semivestita Template:Small
• Stellaria sennii Template:Small
• Stellaria serpens Template:Small
• Stellaria sessiliflora Template:Small
• Stellaria sibirica Template:Small
• Stellaria sikaramensis Template:Small
• Stellaria sikkimensis Template:Small
• Stellaria sitchana Template:Small
• Stellaria smithii Template:Small
• Stellaria soongorica Template:Small
• Stellaria souliei Template:Small
• Stellaria spinulosa Template:Small
• Stellaria standleyi Template:Small
• Stellaria strongylosepala Template:Small
• Stellaria taiwanensis Template:Small
• Stellaria tetrasticha Template:Small
• Stellaria tibetica Template:Small
• Stellaria uchiyamana Template:Small
• Stellaria uda Template:Small
• Stellaria undulata Template:Small
• Stellaria utcubambensis Template:Small
• Stellaria venezuelana Template:Small
• Stellaria vestita Template:Small
• Stellaria villasenorii Template:Small
• Stellaria viridifolia Template:Small
• Stellaria wallichiana Template:Small
• Stellaria weberbaueri Template:Small
• Stellaria weddellii Template:Small
• Stellaria williamsiana Template:Small
• Stellaria winkleri Template:Small
• Stellaria xanthophylla Template:Small
• Stellaria yinshanensis Template:Small
• Stellaria yungasensis Template:Small
• Stellaria yunnanensis Template:Small
• Stellaria zangnanensis Template:Small
• Stellaria zhuxiensis Template:Small

Formerly placed here

• Engellaria obtusa Template:Small (as Stellaria obtusa Template:Small)
• Hesperostellaria americana Template:Small (as Stellaria americana Template:Small)
• Reniostellaria bistylata Template:Small (as Stellar bistylata Template:Small)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Schizotechium turkestanicum Template:Small (as Stellaria turkestanica Template:Small)
• Torreyostellaria jamesiana Template:Small (as Stellaria jamesiana Template:Small)

References

• Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, Gregory L. Tilford, Template:ISBN

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline