Mouseear Chickweed

Cerastium vulgatum

Mouseear chickweed is a winter perennial. It grows prostrate but will have several upright stems, and can tolerate close mowing.

Mouseear chickweed is a creeping, mat-forming species that normally behaves as a perennial; however, it is possible for it to exist as an annual. Plants reproduce by seeds and roots growing from the nodes of stems. It tends to form dense patches. Reproduces by seed and occasionally by creeping stems that may root where they touch the soil.

Mouseear chickweed leaves are oblong to spatula shaped, with smooth edges and a pointed tip. Like the stems, the leaves are covered with long clammy hairs on the upper surface and on the veins of the lower surface. Leaves are opposite (two per node) and attached directly to the stem, the leaf bases often overlapping in a shallow cup around the stem.

Similar Species: Mouseear chickweed can be distinguished from similar species by mostly prostrate growth and hair-covered stems and leaves. Common chickweed (Stellaria media) has only a single line of hairs along the stem and thymeleaf speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia) has no hairs on leaves or stem.