The Herbarium
Print plate
Chickweed botanical plate

Herb. No. 093 · Caryophyllaceae

RangeFig. atlas
Approximate native range — a teaching atlas, not a survey

Cool-season European annual, now a world weed of damp gardens.

Native · Europe

Native Also grownNow a garden plant worldwide
LegalGentleplant

Chickweed

Stellaria media

Medicinal herbsKitchenHarvest

A tender star-flowered green for cooling itchy skin and a spring salad.

Chickweed is a European annual that loves cool, damp gardens. Traditional use is as a cooling poultice and a vitamin-y spring green. It is not a dramatic internal medicine. Identification: a single line of hairs along the stem, petals split so they look like ten.

Flavor

Corn-salad green, mild, slightly succulent. The garden’s mildest wild salad.

Parts used

Aerial parts

Helpful

  • Free if you garden
  • Gentle
  • A true salad

Cautions

  • A weed in the wrong bed
  • Hot weather ends the crop

Field assistant

Ask about traditional use, safety, or the law. The assistant will not teach illegal cultivation or give medical orders.

Related symptoms

irritable skinminor woundsburns

Teas with this plant

Remedies with this plant

  • Calendula and aloe skin tray

    Thin film of calendula 2–3 times a day. Aloe: a clean inner-leaf smear, as needed. Compress: 10 minutes, then air-dry. Essential oil: one drop in a carrier, not a puddle.

  • Plantain on a sting

    One or two fresh leaves, as needed, a few applications. Not a dirty roadside leaf.

Harvest this plant

When to cut, how to dry, and how to store it — garden and kitchen crops only.

Open harvest notes