Stellaria media - Chickweed

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Stellaria media, Chickweed

Chickweed, Stellaria media, is a cool-season annual plant native to Europe, but naturalized in many parts of North America. It is used as a cooling herbal remedy, and grown as a vegetable crop and ground cover for both human consumption and poultry. It is sometimes called common chickweed to distinguish it from other plants called chickweed. Other common names include chickenwort, craches, maruns, winterweed. The plant germinates in autumn or late winter, then forms large mats of foliage. Flowers are small and white, followed quickly by the seed pods. This plant flowers and sets seed at the same time.

Uses

bronchitis, pleurisy, gastritis, asthma, sore throat, boils, wounds, itching, hemorrhoids

Parts Used

Seeds, Leaves.

Chemical Composition

The anthraquinones emodin, parietin (physcion) and questin, the flavonoid kaempferol-3,7-O-α-L-dirhamnoside, the phytosterols β-sitosterol and daucosterol, and the fatty alcohol 1-hexacosanol can be found in S. media.[12] Other flavonoid constituents are apigenin 6-C-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-8-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside, apigenin 6-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-8-C-beta-D-galactopyranoside, apigenin 6-C-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-8-C-beta-L-arabinopyranoside, apigenin 6-C-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-8-C-beta-D-galactopyranoside, apigenin 6, 8-di-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside

Common names

Language	Common name
Kannada
Hindi	Buch-bucha
Malayalam
Tamil
Telugu
Marathi	NA
Gujarathi	NA
Punjabi	NA
Kashmiri	NA
Sanskrit
English	chickweed

Properties

Reference: Dravya - Substance, Rasa - Taste, Guna - Qualities, Veerya - Potency, Vipaka - Post-digesion effect, Karma - Pharmacological activity, Prabhava - Therepeutics.

Habit

Herb

Identification

Leaf

Kind	Shape	Feature
Simple	oval	Chickweed leaves are oval with pointed tips that are smooth or slightly hairy

Flower

Type	Size	Color and composition	Stamen	More information
Unisexual	small	white	5 petals	these are produced at the tips of stems and in angles between branches

Fruit

Type	Size	Mass	Appearance	Seeds	More information
oval		An oval, one-celled capsule, whitish in color, containing numerous seeds	whitish	numerous seeds	{{{6}}}

List of Ayurvedic medicine in which the herb is used

• Vishatinduka Taila as root juice extract

Mode of Propagation

Seeds.

How to plant/cultivate

A very easily grown plant, it prefers a moist soil and a position in full sun or partial shade

Commonly seen growing in areas

lawns, cultivated fields, pastures.

Photo Gallery

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External Links

• chickweed Description
• chickweed as a Good Health Herbs
• Stellaria media on identifythatplant
• Foraging Identifying Wild Edible Chickweed
• Stellaria mediaon on msuturf weeds.