Chickweeds (Cerastium) and Stitchworts (Stellaria)

Stitchweeds (Stellaria)

opoosite entire leaves

Group I. styles 5

giant stitchwort (1. aquatica = aquatic) Erup intro as seed in wet and waste places

Group II. styles 3(4)

..... leaves broad leaves narrower
introduced weedy annual; lf blades 1-3cm common s.w. (2.media = intermediate) lower lvs, long stalked; gardens & waste places; Old World intro .....
native, sylvan perennial; lf blades 2-9cm great s.w. (3.pubera = pubescent) woods & rocky slopes; NJ to FL .....
5) branched cymes ..... .....
6) petals surpassing sepals ...... .....
7) bracts herbaceous ..... Easter-bell s.w. (4.holostea = from Holosteum, with which was early associated) Eurasian, often escaped from cult.
7 bracts thin, dry, not green ..... .....
8) infl open, divaricately branched ..... .....
9) fls mostly few ..... long-leaved s.w. (7.longifolia = long-leaved) broadest in middle; moist, grassy places & damp woods; s to VA
9)fls mostly many ..... lesser s.w. (8.graminea = grass-like) broadest near base; grassy places, fields, roadsides, etc.; Eurp intro
8)infl less open ..... long-stalked s.w. (6.longipipes = long-stalked) grassy places along streams or in moist, gravelly or sandy areas; s to NY
6) petals shorter or lacking ..... .....
11)seeds strongly papillate; cymes axillary, few-fld, all the fls subtended by tiny, scarious bracts ..... bog s.w. (9.alsine = for Alsine, inclusive early name for several genera) cold marshes, streams & springs; NF to MD
11) seeds nearly smooth; cymes terminal, few-many fld, the lower bracts herbaceous, often leafy ..... northern s.w. (10.borealis = northern) fls solitary; moist, us shady places; Greenland to NY and n WV

Chickweeds (Cerastium)

perennials:

..... lance-shaped elliptical/hairy
fls 1/4" wide; petals as long as seps ..... mouse-ear c.w. (2.vulgatum = common) lvs & stem hairy; gardens, roadsides & lawns
fls 1/2" wide; pets 2-3 times longer than seps field c.w. (1.arvense = of cultivated ground) stem & fl stalks hairy; on rocky slopes .....

annuals:

..... lf lenght: 1cm 2 3 5
styles 3 ..... ..... (5.dubium) Eurp weed, casually introduced .....
styles mostly 4 ..... (6.diffusum) Eurp weed, casually introduced ..... .....
styles 5 ..... ..... ..... .....
3)seps provided w long forward- pointing, eglandular hairs that protrude well beyond the tip ..... ..... ..... .....
4) fls in dense clusters, pedicels mostly shorter than the sep ..... ..... clammy c.w. (3.viscosum) Eurasian, cosmop weed .....
4) fls in open dichasia, the pedicels mostly longer than the sep ..... ..... (4.brachypetalum = w/ short petals) Eurasian, widely but irreg introduced .....
7) bracts, at least the upper, with more or less evident hyaline-scarious distal margins & tip; lvs relatively small, up to 1.5 cm ..... ..... ..... .....
8) pet equaling or sl surpassing the sep, cleft 1-1.5mm (7.pumilum = dwarf) Eurp introduced weed ..... ..... .....
8) pet shorter than the sep, cleft less than 1mm (8.semidecandrum = with half of ten stamens, filaments 5, sterile 5 bearing anthers) Eurasian introduced weed ...... ..... .....
7) bracts wholly herbaceous; lvs larger, mostly 1.5-5cm; stamens (5-)10 ..... ..... ..... (9.nutans = nodding) woods & open places, sometimes in disturbed pls; NS to GA