Cerastium viride

Western field mouse-ear chickweed, Western Field Mouse-Ear Chickweed

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Western field mouse-ear chickweed is a California native perennial found in northern coastal, central coastal, and San Francisco Bay Area bioregions in coastal grasslands, dunes, and rocky slopes at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from spring to early summer, this plant produces white flowers with deeply notched petals 10 to 15 millimeters long. Growing 15 to 45 centimeters tall with glandular-hairy stems that form mat-like clusters, it spreads with both non-flowering and erect flowering stems. Its leaves are lance-ovate to narrowly oblong, 10 to 45 millimeters long, with axillary leaf clusters particularly prominent near the base of the plant. The plant forms distinctive mat-like clusters with glandular hairs, especially on its upper stems.

Habitat: Coastal grassland, dunes, rocky slopes

Bloom period: Spring-early summer

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo, SnFrB

California counties: Santa Clara, Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino

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