Stellaria graminea

Common starwort, Common Starwort

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Common starwort is a naturalized perennial herb found in central Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, and Southern California Coast in disturbed areas at elevations from sea level to 1,220 meters. Flowering from late spring to early summer, this plant produces small white flowers with delicate petals about 1 to 1.4 times the length of its sepals. Growing with sprawling to erect stems 10 to 60 centimeters tall, it spreads with a white rhizome and generally glabrous stems. Its leaves are linear to lanceolate, 10 to 35 millimeters long, with slightly ciliate margins near the base and a shiny, flat appearance. The plant produces dark brown seeds with prominent elongate tubercles, characteristic of its distinctive growth pattern.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Late spring-early summer

Elevation: < 400, and 1220 m

Bioregions: c SNH, SnJV, SnFrB, SCo

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