Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Stellaria pubera
FAMILY
Caryophyllaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Giant Chickweed at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Both Stellaria corei and S. pubera have an interesting seasonal growth form, producing short and relatively small-leaved flowering shoots in the spring (which wither following fruiting), followed by taller, more vigorous summer shoots with larger and tougher leaves and lacking flowers, which persist until autumn, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Stellaria pubera
FAMILY
Caryophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 5 (2005)
Stellaria pubera
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 071-07-004:
Stellaria pubera FAMILY Caryophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Stellaria pubera var. pubera
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Alsine pubera
COMMON NAME:
Star Chickweed, Giant Chickweed, Great Chickweed, Common Starwort
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_alpu8_001_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm090321_095
March Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
Stem leaves are mostly lanceolate, to 3.5" long, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
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JK Marlow jkm200322_3339
March Polk County NC
Pearson's Falls
Sepals are acute to obtuse and shorter than the petals, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
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JK Marlow jkm200322_3365
March Polk County NC
Pearson's Falls
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JK Marlow jkm230328_2136
March Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
Not sure why the petals of these plants turn downward...
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_stellaria_pubera
March
Apparently 10 petals, but actually 5 petals deeply split, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999).
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JK Marlow jkm0404h_17
April Polk County NC
Pearson's Falls
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JK Marlow jkm130422_668
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
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JK Marlow jkm160422_120
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Fruit is an ovoid capsule containing many small seeds, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
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JK Marlow jkm160423_474
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Short, small-leaved flowering shoots replaced by taller shoots w larger lvs, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
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JK Marlow jkm180427_1552
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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JK Marlow jkm200403_3475
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
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JK Marlow jkm200422_4040
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm210401_9084
April Polk County NC
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Keith Bradley kab_stellaria_pubera_0473
April NC
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Keith Bradley kab_stellaria_pubera_1349
April Polk County SC
Pearson's Falls
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Keith Bradley kab_stellaria_pubera_1369
April Polk County SC
Pearson's Falls
)
JK Marlow jkm210619_1443
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
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JK Marlow jkm230720_4661
July Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
Sterile and fertile shoots dimorphic, the leaves of sterile shoots much larger, per Weakley's Flora.
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JK Marlow jkm210824_2988
August Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Stellaria pubera
FAMILY
Caryophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Stellaria pubera
FAMILY
Caryophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 5
Stellaria pubera
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 071-07-004:
Stellaria pubera
FAMILY
Caryophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Stellaria pubera var. pubera
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Alsine pubera
1464
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Bottomland forests, moist slopes, coves, hammocks, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon to rare in Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Leaves sessile or occasionally short-petiolate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
Radially symmetrical
5 sepals
5 petals
5-10 stamens
Superior ovary
Usually bisexual
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p176
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p036
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p190
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p235
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p274
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p363
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p134
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p008
- Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: Northeastern US (Clemants & Gracie, 2006) p328
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p067
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p154
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p059
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p081
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p447
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p040
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
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