All plants /Ground /Chickweed
Chickweed
Stellaria media, pink family. Common in East and Central Texas.
At a glance
- What
- Tender tops, leaves, and starry flowers
- How
- Raw, by the bowl, or pesto
- When
- Cool season, January to April
- Where
- Shaded beds, damp lawns, winter gardens
- Value
- Green freshness in deep winter
Caution: Confirm the single line of hairs running up one side of the stem and the absence of milky sap; scarlet pimpernel, the look-alike, has square-ish stems, orange flowers, and no hair line.
Identification
A sprawling mat of small oval leaves with white flowers so deeply split their five petals look like ten. Stretch a stem gently: the skin breaks but an elastic inner core holds.
In the kitchen
Chickweed eats like sprouts, mild and juicy. Scissor-harvest the top few inches and it regrows for weeks.
Photo: Robert Flogaus-Faust, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Forages well with
Forage safely. Never eat a wild plant on this site's word alone. Confirm identity with several sources, learn the look-alikes, and when in doubt, leave it in the ground.