font settings and languages

Font Size: Large | Normal | Small
Font Face: Verdana | Geneva | Georgia
Languages:

Cerastium fontanum

(Common Mouse-Ear Chickweed)

Common Names

[ Back to top ]

Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Big Chickweed, Common Chickweed, Common Mouse-Ear Chickweed, Mouse-Ear Chickweed, Mouse-Ears, Mouseear Chickweed

Common Names in French:

Céraiste Commun

Description

[ Back to top ]

Family Caryophyllaceae

Herbs annual or perennial , rarely subshrubs or shrubs . Stems and branches usually swollen at nodes. Leaves opposite, decussate, rarely alternate or verticillate , simple , entire, usually connate at base ; stipules scarious , bristly , or often absent. Inflorescence of cymes or cymose panicles, rarely flowers solitary or few in racemes , capitula, pseudoverticillasters, or umbels. Flowers actinomorphic , bisexual , rarely unisexual , occasionally cleistogamous . Sepals (4 or) 5, free , imbricate, or connate into a tube , leaflike or scarious, persistent , sometimes bracteate below calyx. Petals (4 or) 5, rarely absent, free, often comprising claw and limb; limb entire or split, usually with coronal scales at juncture of claw and limb. Stamens (2--) 5--10, in 1 or 2 series. Pistil 1; carpels 2--5, united into a compound ovary. Ovary superior, 1-loculed or basally imperfectly 2--5-loculed. Gynophore present or absent. Placentation free, central, rarely basal; ovules (1 or) few or numerous , campylotropous. Styles (1 or) 2--5, sometimes united at base. Fruit usually a capsule, with pericarp crustaceous , scarious, or papery , dehiscing by teeth or valves 1 or 2 × as many as styles, rarely berrylike with irregular dehiscence or an achene. Seeds 1 to numerous, reniform , ovoid , or rarely dorsiventrally compressed , abaxially grooved , blunt , or sharply pointed , rarely fimbriate-pectinate; testa granular , striate or tuberculate , rarely smooth or spongy ; embryo strongly curved and surrounding perisperm or straight but eccentric ; perisperm mealy.

Between 75 and 80 genera and ca. 2000 species: widespread but mainly of temperate or warm-temperate occurrence in the N hemisphere, with principal centers of distribution in the Mediterranean region and W Asia to W China and the Himalayas, fewer species in Africa S of the Sahara, America, and Oceania; 30 genera (two endemic) and 390 species (193 endemic) in China.

Arenaria, Silene, and Stellaria contain over half the species in the family in China. They are mostly concentrated in the Qinghai-Xizang plateau , and are especially rich from the Hengduan Mountains to the Himalayas. The main uses of this family are medicinal and ornamental . Dianthus superbus, Pseudostellaria heterophylla, Stellaria dichotoma var. lanceolata, and Vaccaria hispanica are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine . Some species of Arenaria, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Psammosilene, and Silene are used as medicinal herbs among the people or are habitually used in local Chinese medicine. Many species of Dianthus, Gypsophila, Lychnis, Saponaria, and Silene are grown as ornamentals. Atocion armeria (Linnaeus) Rafinesque ( Silene armeria Linnaeus), native to Russia and Europe, is also cultivated in China. It differs from Silene in having a corymbose inflorescence and obscure calyx veins. Wu Cheng-yih, Ke Ping, Zhou Li-hua, Tang Chang-lin & Lu De-quan. 1996. Caryophyllaceae. In: Tang Chang-lin, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 26: 47–449.[1]

Genus Cerastium

Herbs, annual , winter annual , or perennial . Taproots slender, perennial taxa often rhizomatous , rooting at nodes. Stems ascending to erect or decumbent , simple or branched, terete . Leaves basally connate , petiolate (basal in some species) or sessile (cauline) ; blade 1-5-veined, linear or elliptic to broadly ovate , not succulent (except in C. bialynickii, C. regelii, and C. viride), apex acute to obtuse . Inflorescences terminal , open or congested cymes, or flowers solitary, axillary (racemosely arranged in C. axillare) ; bracts paired , foliaceous or reduced, herbaceous or often with scarious margins . Pedicels erect, sometimes reflexed or hooked at apex in fruit, or flowers sometimes subsessile (C. regelii). Flowers bisexual , occasionally unisexual and pistillate ; perianth and androecium hypogynous or weakly perigynous; hypanthium minimal; sepals (4-) 5, distinct , green (red-tipped in C. glomeratum and C. pumilum, often violet-tipped in C. alpinum, purple in C. bialynickii, turning pale orange-brown in fruit in C. texanum), elliptic to ovate, 3-12 mm, herbaceous, margins translucent to purplish, scarious, apex acute, acuminate, or obtuse, not hooded ; petals (4-) 5 or sometimes absent, white (purple tinged in C. pumilum and C. regelii), clawed, blade apex 2-fid 1/ 1/ 2 of length , notched , or emarginate ; nectaries at base of filaments opposite sepals; stamens usually 10, sometimes 5 or 8, occasionally 4; filaments distinct, inserted at base of ovary; staminodes absent or 1-4 (via anther abortion ), linear; styles (3-) 5(-6), clavate to filiform , 0.5-2 mm, glabrous proximally; stigmas (3-) 5(-6), subterminal to linear along adaxial surface of styles, roughened to papillate (30×). Capsules oblong or cylindric , usually ± curved , opening by 10, or occasionally 6 or 8, erect or spreading , convolute or revolute teeth, longer than sepals; carpophore absent. Seeds 15-150+, orange to brown, angular-obovate, often with abaxial groove , laterally compressed , papillate-tuberculate, marginal wing absent, appendage absent. x = [9?, 13, 15] 17, 18, 19.

Species ca. 100: worldwide, but mainly north-temperate region.

While the base chromosome number for Cerastium is often cited as x = 9, only a single count of 2n = 18 is known; see C. Favarger and M. Krähenbühl (1996) for a discussion of the diverse cytological conditions found in Cerastium.[2]

Physical Description

Species Cerastium fontanum

Plants perennial (rarely annual ), tufted to mat-forming, often rhizomatous . Stems: flowering stems erect from decumbent base , branched proximally, 10-45 cm, softly pubescent , eglandular with straight hairs ; nonflowering shoots , when present, produced proximally, decumbent, rooting at nodes, branched, 5-20 cm, often subglabrous with alternating lines of eglandular hairs; small axillary tufts of leaves usually absent. Leaves not marcescent ; blade 10-25(-40) × 3-8(-12) mm, densely covered with patent to ascending , colorless, long, eglandular hairs; leaves of flowering shoots in distant pairs, sessile, blade elliptic to ovate-oblong, apex subacute ; leaves of sterile shoots pseudopetiolate, often spatulate , blade oblanceolate, apex obtuse . Inflorescences lax , 3-50-flowered cymes; bracts lanceolate, reduced, herbaceous, eglandular-pubescent, distal often with narrow, scarious margins . Pedicels somewhat curved distally, 2-10(-20) mm, longer than sepals, densely pubescent with patent, eglandular, rarely glandular hairs. Flowers: sepals ovate-lanceolate, 5-7 mm, margins narrow, apex acute, scarious, pubescent with eglandular, rarely glandular, hairs; petals oblanceolate , 1-1.5 times as long as sepals, apex deeply 2-fid; stamens 10, occasionally 5; styles 5. Capsules narrowly cylindric , curved, 9-17 mm, ca. 2 times sepals; teeth 10, erect, margins convolute. Seeds reddish brown, 0.4-1.2 mm, bluntly tuberculate ; testa not inflated , tightly enclosing seed. 2n = 122-152, usually 144. [source]

Cerastium fontanum is a highly variable and complex species. It often has been reported as C. vulgatum Linnaeus, an ambiguous name ; see discussion under the genus. [source]

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Bloom Period: January, February, March. • Flower Color: near white, white

Size/Age/Growth

Size: under 6" tall.

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 4,653 meters (0 to 15,266 feet).[3]

Biology

[ Back to top ]

Reproduction

Duration: Biennial, Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 6-9" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

[ Back to top ]

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Name verified on 29-Aug-2002 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 29-Aug-2002

Similar Species

[ Back to top ]

Members of the genus Cerastium

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 595 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

C. aberdaricum · C. acutatum · C. acutifolium · C. adenotrichum · C. adnivale · C. adscendens · C. adsurgens · C. africanum · C. afromontanum · C. aggregatum · C. album · C. aleuticum (Aleutian Mouse-Ear Chickweed) · C. alexandrei · C. alexeenkoanum · C. algericum · C. alpestre · C. alpicolum · C. alpinum · C. alpinum alpinum (Alpine Mouse-Ear Chickweed) · C. alpinum alpinum var. alpinum (Alpine Mouse-Ear Chickweed) · C. alpinum glabratum · C. alpinum glanduliferum (Alpine Mouse-Ear Chickweed) · C. alpinum lanatum (Alpine Chickweed) · C. alpinum lanatum var. lanatum (Alpine Mouse-Ear Chickweed) · C. alpinum subsp. aquaticum · C. alpinum subsp. lanatum (Alpine Chickweed) · C. alpinum subsp. nevadense · C. alpinum var. fischerianum · C. alpinum var. robustum · C. alpinum var. strigosum · C. alsinifolium · C. alsinoides · C. alsophilum · C. amanum · C. ambiguum · C. amplexicaule · C. amurense · C. andinum · C. angustatum · C. angustifolium · C. annae · C. anomalum · C. apetalum · C. apricum · C. apuanum · C. aquaticum · C. arabidis · C. araraticum · C. arcticum · C. arcticum edmonstonii · C. arcticum subsp. hyperboreum · C. arcticum var. arcticum (Arctic Chickweed) · C. arcticum var. procerum (Arctic Chickweed) · C. arcticum var. sordidum (Arctic Chickweed) · C. arcticum var. vestitum (Arctic Chickweed) · C. arenarium · C. argenteum · C. argentinum · C. arisanense · C. arisanensis · C. armeniacum · C. arvense (Prairie Mouse-Ear Chickweed) · C. arvense x tomentosum · C. arvense bracteatum · C. arvense 'Compactum' · C. arvense fuegianum (Prairie Mouse-Ear Chickweed) · C. arvense glandulosum · C. arvense latifolium · C. arvense maximum (Field Chickweed) · C. arvense oblongifolium · C. arvense strictum (Prairie Mouse-Ear Chickweed) · C. arvense subsp. fuegianum (Field Chickweed) · C. arvense subsp. maximum (Field Chickweed) · C. arvense subsp. strictum (Field Mouse-Ear Chickweed) · C. arvense subsp. velutinum (Field Chickweed) · C. arvense var. japonicum · C. arvense var. ovatum · C. arvense var. strictum · C. arvense var. villosum (Field Chickweed) · C. arvense velutinum (Field Chickweed) · C. arvense villosum · C. arvense webbii · C. arvensiforme · C. arvensis · C. atlanticum · C. atratum · C. atrovirens (Mouse-Ears) · C. atticum · C. austroalpinum · C. axillare (Trans Pecos Mouse-Ear Chickweed) · C. azoricum · C. baischanense · C. balearicum · C. bambuseti · C. banaticum · C. banaticum banaticum · C. banaticum speciosum · C. banaticum subsp. speciosum · C. barberi · C. barbulatum

More Info

[ Back to top ]

Further Reading

[ Back to top ]

Notes

[ Back to top ]

Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 19, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Dequan Lu, Zhengyi Wu, Lihua Zhou, Shilong Chen, Michael G. Gilbert, Magnus Lidén, John McNeill, John K. Morton, Bengt Oxelman, Richard K. Rabeler, Mats Thulin, Nicholas J. Turland & Warren L. Wagner "Caryophyllaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 6 Page 1. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. John K. Morton "Cerastium". in Flora of North America Vol. 5. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 187.520 meters (615.223 feet), Standard Deviation = 251.540 based on 20,000 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/1/2009