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Stellaria media - (L.)Vill.

Chickweed

Author	(L.)Vill.	Botanical references	17
Family	Caryophyllaceae	Genus	Stellaria
Synonyms	Alsine media - L.
Known Hazards	The leaves contain saponins[7, 65]. Although toxic, these substances are very poorly absorbed by the body and so tend to pass through without causing harm. They are also broken down by thorough cooking. Saponins are found in many plants, including several that are often used for food, such as certain beans. It is advisable not to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish[K].
Range	A cosmopolitan plant, found in most regions of the world, including Britain.
Habitat	Growing almost anywhere, it is a common garden weed[7, 17].
Edibility Rating	2 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	3 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.12m by 0.5m.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats

Cultivated Beds;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Leaves; Seed.

Young leaves - raw or cooked as a potherb[2, 7, 9, 12, 52, 54, 183]. They can be available all year round if the winter is not too severe[85]. Very nutritious, they can be added to salads whilst the cooked leaves can scarcely be distinguished from spring spinach[4, K]. The leaves contain saponins so some caution is advised, see the note on toxicity at the top of the page. A nutritional analysis is available[218]. Seed - ground into a powder and used in making bread or to thicken soups[172, 183]. It would be very fiddly to harvest any quantity of this seed since it is produced in small quantities throughout most of the year and is very small[K]. The seed contains 17.8% protein and 5.9% fat[218].

Composition

Figures in grams (g) or miligrams (mg) per 100g of food.

Leaves (Dry weight)

• 0 Calories per 100g
• Water: 0%
• Protein: 14.5g; Fat: 2.4g; Carbohydrate: 63.9g; Fibre: 20.5g; Ash: 19.3g;
• Minerals - Calcium: 0mg; Phosphorus: 0mg; Iron: 0mg; Magnesium: 0mg; Sodium: 0mg; Potassium: 0mg; Zinc: 0mg;
• Vitamins - A: 30mg; Thiamine (B1): 0.02mg; Riboflavin (B2): 0.14mg; Niacin: 0.51mg; B6: 0mg; C: 375mg;
• Reference: [218]
• Notes: The figure for vitamin A is in mg

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Astringent; Carminative; Demulcent; Depurative; Diuretic; Emmenagogue; Expectorant; Galactogogue; Kidney; Laxative; Ophthalmic; Poultice; Refrigerant; Vulnerary.

Chickweed has a very long history of herbal use, being particularly beneficial in the external treatment of any kind of itching skin condition[238]. It has been known to soothe severe itchiness even where all other remedies have failed[254]. In excess doses chickweed can cause diarrhoea and vomiting[254]. It should not be used medicinally by pregnant women[254]. The whole plant is astringent, carminative, demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, refrigerant, vulnerary[4, 7, 9, 21, 54, 165, 222]. Taken internally it is useful in the treatment of chest complaints and in small quantities it also aids digestion[254]. It can be applied as a poultice and will relieve any kind of roseola and is effective wherever there are fragile superficial veins[7]. An infusion of the fresh or dried herb can be added to the bath water and its emollient property will help to reduce inflammation - in rheumatic joints for example - and encourage tissue repair[254]. Chickweed is best harvested between May and July, it can be used fresh or be dried and stored for later use[4, 238]. A decoction of the whole plant is taken internally as a post-partum depurative, emmenagogue, galactogogue and circulatory tonic[218]. It is also believed to relieve constipation and be beneficial in the treatment of kidney complaints[244]. The decoction is also used externally to treat rheumatic pains, wounds and ulcers[4, 218, 222]. The expressed juice of the plant has been used as an eyewash[244].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

A very easily grown plant, it prefers a moist soil and a position in full sun or partial shade[52, 238]. It can be very lush and vigorous when grown in a fertile soil[1], but in infertile soils it will flower and set seed whilst still very small. A very common garden weed, chickweed grows, flowers and sets seed all year round. The flowers open around 9 o'clock in the morning and remain open for about 12 hours[4]. They do not open in dull weather[4]. The leaves fold up of a night time, enfolding and protecting the tender buds of new shoots[4]. A food plant for the caterpillars of many butterfly species.

Propagation

Seed - this species should not need any encouragement, you are much more likely to be trying to get rid of it than trying to introduce it (eating it is one way of doing that!)[K].

Links

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[12] Loewenfeld. C. and Back. P. Britain's Wild Larder. David and Charles 0 ISBN 0-7153-7971-2
A handy pocket guide.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[52] Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.

[54] Hatfield. A. W. How to Enjoy your Weeds. Frederick Muller Ltd 1977 ISBN 0-584-10141-4
Interesting reading.

[65] Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe 1984 ISBN 0723408394
Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism. 0
An excellent small herbal.

[172] Schofield. J. J. Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest. 0
A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[244] Phillips. R. & Foy. N. Herbs Pan Books Ltd. London. 1990 ISBN 0-330-30725-8
Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

Winter Salads

D Stahl Wed May 23 07:17:00 2001

There are three plants I use for winter/early spring salads here on the West Coast of the USA:

Stellaria media, common chickweed, is a rampant weed with a very mild flavor. You don't so much cultivate it as try to eat it faster than it can grow.

Cardamine oligosperma, winter cress, has a nice mild cress taste--the young leaves are best. This cress doesn't put on as much growth as the chickweed, but it's very forgiving of bad soil and cold.

Brassica campestris, field mustard, blossoms in early spring and before the flower heads open they have a pleasant, mild broccoli flavor. Don't eat it from near industrial areas or roadways, as it is reputed to concentrate lead.

I usually pick these three and add some Rumex and dandelion leaves, all from vacant lots and fields--although both the cress and the chickweed grow in with my spring garden plants if I let them!

Weeds as a future source for human consumption

Martha Díaz B Thu Jun 28 17:02:26 2001

We reciently recieved this article on the use of various weeds in south america. We though that you might enjoy it.

Abstract

Weeds may constitute an additional food source for humans. Up to 66% of weed species are edible and abound in urban and agricultural environments. A total of 43 species were sampled in tropical areas in Coatepec Mexico (e.g. roadsides, urban vacant lots, streets, sugar cane and coffee plantations). A similar survey performed in a temperate area in Bariloche Argentina with 32 species sampled. At a greater geographic scale, a comparison between Mexican and Argentine weeds shows that, proportionately, the food parts vary a little between regions. In general, the uses go from leaves, seeds, roots, fruits, and flowers.

Link: Weeds as a future source for human consumption

Weeds as a future source for human consumption

Klaus Thu Aug 16 16:12:55 2001

I really wonder what this has to do with montia perfoliata. The edible uses of weeds might be interesting, but not as a comment to this plant.

Stellaria media

James Archer Fri Apr 6 2007

Can any one tell me if chickweed can help to treat sweet bitch in horses?

Stellaria media

colleen Thu Feb 14 2008

im taking iron plus which contains chickweed i have a throyid condition does chickweed affect that.graves disease.

Stellaria media

Ken Fern, Plants for a Future Fri Feb 15 2008

We can find no records of chickweed having any effect, positive or negative, on a thyroid condition. It is almost certainly safe to use, though if you are taking other medications then it would be wise to consult with your health practitioner.

Stellaria media

Robert Gergulics Sat Apr 11 2009

photos Here. www.Photorobg.com

www.photorobg.com

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