Cerastium glomeratum

Sticky mouse-ear chickweed, Sticky Mouse-Ear Chickweed

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Sticky mouse-ear chickweed is a naturalized annual found in California Floristic Province (excluding southern Sierra Nevada), Modoc Plateau, and Desert regions in dry hillsides, grasslands, chaparral, and disturbed areas at elevations below 1,600 meters. Flowering in spring, this plant produces small white flowers in compact clusters, with delicate petals 3 to 5 millimeters long. Growing 3 to 40 centimeters tall with ascending to erect stems that are notably hairy and somewhat glandular, it spreads easily in disturbed landscapes. Its leaves are lanceolate to ovate, measuring 5 to 35 millimeters long, with a soft, hairy texture that covers both stem and foliage. The fruit develops 3.5 to 8 millimeters long, allowing the plant to readily propagate in open, dry environments.

Habitat: dry hillsides, grassland, chaparral, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Spring

Elevation: < 1600 m

Bioregions: CA-FP (exc s SNH), MP, DSon

California counties: Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Kern, Contra Costa, San Bernardino, Madera, Napa, Mendocino, Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mariposa, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Tulare, Ventura, Yuba, Del Norte, Yolo, Mono, Calaveras, Placer, Amador, San Joaquin, Nevada, Marin, Colusa, Glenn, Merced, Modoc, San Benito, Shasta, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Alameda, Plumas, Sutter, Tuolumne, Sacramento, Tehama, Trinity, Alpine

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.