Cerastium arvense

Cerastium arvense is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names field mouse-ear[1] and field chickweed.[2] It is a widespread species, occurring throughout Europe and North America, as well as parts of South America. It is a variable species. There are several subspecies, but the number and defining characteristics are disputed.[3]

The five white petals are 7.5 to 9 millimetres (0.30 to 0.35 in) long, deeply bilobate with round tips. At the center are ten yellow stamens and five styles.

Cerastium arvense
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Genus: Cerastium
Species:
C. arvense
Binomial name
Cerastium arvense

Description
Batiscan River banks Quebec, Canada

Cerastium arvense is a perennial herb growing up to 30–45 cm (12–18 in)[3][4] tall. It takes the form of a mat, clump, creeper, or upright flower, and may grow from a taproot or tangled system of rhizomes. It is usually somewhat hairy in texture, often with glandular hairs. The leaves are linear, lance-shaped, or oblong, and a few centimeters in length. The inflorescence may consist of a single flower to a dense cluster of many. The flower has five white petals, each with two lobes, and five hairy green sepals at the base. The fruit is a capsule up to 1.5 cm (0.59 in) long with ten tiny teeth at the tip, which contains several brown seeds.

Cultivation

Gardeners interested in wildflowers disagree on if field mouse-ears should be grown in gardens. Noted rock gardener Louise Beebe Wilder recommended against it in the strongest terms. However C.W. Wood and Claude A. Barr both thought that a specimen selected for good qualities had a place in a garden, such as a groundcover in difficult shady spots.[5]

References
  1. "Cerastium arvense (Field Mouse-ear)". Online Atlas of the British and Irish flora. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  2. "Cerastium arvense L." USDA. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  3. Flora of North America
  4. "Jepson Manual Treatment". Regents of the University of California. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  5. Barr, Claude A. (1983). Jewels of the plains : wild flowers of the Great Plains grasslands and hills. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 55. ISBN 0-8166-1127-0.
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