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Upright chickweed

Moenchia erecta

Also called Dwarf Chickweed, Upright Moenchia, Munchkin Chickweed

Upright chickweed
Photo: Walter Hood Fitch, Public domain
Family
Caryophyllaceae (Pink & carnation family)
Grows as
Annual
Water
Likes moisture
Native range
Europe to Medit.
Climate
temperate

About

Moenchia erecta, the erect chickweed or upright chickweed (though the latter name may refer to any species of Moenchia), is a small annual plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It can grow to over 10 cm in height, but it is usually smaller. It has blue-green glaucous leaves, and small, delicate white flowers. The sepals are longer than the petals, green and bordered in white. The plant is a common pasture weed native to Europe. It has been introduced elsewhere, including Australia and western North America, but it is not particularly invasive or competitive.

In areas where it has been introduced, it springs up opportunistically in gardens, mowed fields, and other disturbed areas. It prefers moist places, such as grassy floodplains near marshes and coastal hills. The plant grows well in bare, sandy, gravelly soils, such as those at shorelines or on overgrazed fields.

Other Moenchia plants

Upright chickweed

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Moenchia erecta by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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