62 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA 



COMMON CHICKWEED (Stellaria media (L.) CyrilL). 



Other English name : Chickweed. 

 Other Latin name: Alsine media L. 



Introduced from Europe. Annual. Succulent, stems dif- 

 fusely branching, curving upward with a tendency to lie down. 

 Roots, hair-like and exceedingly tough. Leaves ovate, the foot- 

 stalks of the lower ones hairy on the margin. Stems bearing 

 a conspicuous stripe of articulated hairs down one side. Flowers 

 1/4 inch in diameter, star-shaped, numerous, solitary from the 

 axils of the leaves, in old plants in terminal leafy cymes; corolla 

 white, about the length of the thin-margined calyx. Fruit 

 capsules, cone-shaped, spreading or hanging down, longer than 

 the calyx. 



The seed (Plate 72, fig. 17) is small, 1/24 of an inch in 

 diameter, yellowish brown to dark brown, wedge-kidney-shaped, 

 flattened and covered with coarse tubercles arranged in regular 

 curved rows, about 5 on each side and 4 on the edge. 



Time of flowering: At all times of the year except during 

 frost; seed ripening continuously. 



Propagation: By seeds. 



Occurrence : This well-known little weed occurs in all parts 

 of Canada where the soil is moist and rich. 



Injury: A persistent grower, most troublesome in garden 

 and field hoed crops. Its habit of seeding early and throughout 

 the season, combined with the protective seed coat which enables 

 the seed to retain its vitality for several years, makes it an ex- 

 ceedingly difficult pest to exterminate. The seeds are frequently 

 present in grass and clover seeds. Chickweed harbours plant lice. 



Remedy: This weed can be suppressed by clean cultivation 

 of hoed crops the last general cultivation should be shallow, 

 so as not to bring a fresh supply of seeds to the surface and 

 discing of bare stubble lands directly after harvest, to check 



