Chickweed!

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Elaine
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   posted 29 May 2001 02:52 PM     Profile for Elaine     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote



I feel such an idiot! I am a very keen gardener, and know my plants well. But, I have parrots, and everyone recommends that chickweed is a good snack for them. Problem is, what does chickweed look like? Does anyone know? All my gardening books have descriptions of various weeds, but I cannot take risks in giving my pets something that may be poisonous. I don't even know if chickweed grows in the Scottish Highlands. Even my rabbits would love some, if I can identify it. Can anyone help me? Thanks, Elaine. Posts: 57 | From: Ballachulish, Scotland. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged

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Keith
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   posted 30 May 2001 08:26 PM     Profile for Keith     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote



Hi Elaine, If you check your books for Chickweed look under the botanical name. There are 4 types.
1) Cerastium
2) Stellaria media
3) Honkenya pepiodes (Sea Chickweed)
4) Trientalis euroaea (Chickweede
wintergreen)
The weed can be found in damp wet areas and grows well under a geenhouse bench. Canaries love it.
Catch you again

Percy Chucka (Keith)
Posts: 29 | From: Chester | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged

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SCOUTER
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   posted 30 May 2001 08:57 PM     Profile for SCOUTER     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote



This thing does not work!!!!!!!!! Posts: 10 | From: Glenwood, Newfoundland, Canada | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged

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SCOUTER
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   posted 30 May 2001 09:16 PM     Profile for SCOUTER     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote



Elaine, ZFR my last msg. This is the fourth
time I've typed this. If it does not go through this time I'll send it to the Visitor's Book.
The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region.
CHICKWEED, STARWORT (Stellaria media)
Pink Family(Caryophllaceae)
Description: A weak-stemmed, much-branched, -low plant-(italics) with small white flowers with -deeply cleft petals-(ital), in terminal clusters or solitary in leaf axils. Stems with a -single line of hairs-(ital) down the side.
Flowers: 1/4" (6mm) wide; petals 5, so deeply divided as to appear to be 10; sepals 5, green, -longer than the petals-(ital).
Leaves: 1/2-1" (1.3-2.5cm) long; relatively smooth, opposite, ovate lower with petioles, upper without.
Height: 3-8" (7.5-20cm) with trailing stem to 16" (40cm) long.
Flowering: February-December
Habitat: Lawns and disturbed areas
Range: Throughout
Comments: This highly variable annual, introduced from Eurasia, is a cosmopolitan weed. It can be eaten in a salad and is a favourite food of chickens and wild birds. There are a dozen or more chickweed; those in the genus -Stellaria-(ital) have three styles, while those int he closely related genus -Cerastium-(ital) have five styles. The petals of the latter are deeply cleft, with sepals shorter that petals. END
The other book is a school book I found at the local dump and recycled. WEEDS A Golden Guide by Alexander C. Martin, Golden Press,
NY, Western Publishing Co. Inc. Racine Wisconsin.
COMMON CHICKWEED probably originated in Europe but is widespread in various parts of the world, including the U.S. This is the only species of about 100 in the genus that is abundant enough to be ranked as a weed. It prefers rich, moist, shaded soil in lawns and gardens, often starting its growth in late fall as a winter annual. Seeds are needed for reproduction, but the slender stems, often a foot or more long, help spread the pland by rooting at joints. Common chickweed has opposite oval leaves and small, starlike white flowers. it is variable in size. The map shows a range from the Cdn border at Wisconsin SSW through Texas to the gulf. END
a picture is worth...... so.... get yourself down to the local book emporium and check it out. If this doesn't work, perhaps someone can send you some cracker bush seeds. Take care. CUL. Dave
Posts: 10 | From: Glenwood, Newfoundland, Canada | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged

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Elaine
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   posted 31 May 2001 02:29 PM     Profile for Elaine     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote



Thanks Keith and Dave for those extremely comprehensive accounts of the common Chickweed. I know what to look for now. I have a feeling that it IS growing in my garden, but such a tiny, weedy (no pun intended) thing it is! That may have something to do with the fact that my soil type is very acidic. I had to ask, as the plant that I remember my Dad feeding to his breeding budgerigars, which HE called chickweed, certainly wasn't chickweed at all. Thankfully, it wasn't harmful either! I can now go through my extensive library of gardening books, and identify it correctly. A book emporium in Ballachulish? Obviously, you have never been to this neck of the woods! Thanks again for your help. Elaine. Posts: 57 | From: Ballachulish, Scotland. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged