Stellaria pallida

Lesser chickweed, Lesser Chickweed

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Lesser chickweed is a naturalized annual found in southern Northern California Coast, northern and central Sierra Nevada Foothills, Tehama/Western Transverse Ranges, Sacramento Valley, Central Coast, southern Coastal Ranges, southern Channel Islands, and Peninsular Ranges in oak woodlands, streambanks, and disturbed areas at elevations below 450 meters. Flowering in spring, this plant produces tiny white flowers in small, dense clusters. Growing prostrate to erect with slender stems 7 to 50 centimeters tall, it spreads across the ground with internode hairs in distinct lines. Its leaves are approximately ovate, 8 to 45 millimeters long, with flat, shiny surfaces often ciliate near the base. The plant produces small yellow to light red-brown seeds with conical tubercles, typical of its weedy, adaptable nature.

Habitat: Oak woodland, streambanks, grassy hills, flats, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Spring

Elevation: < 450(1500) m

Bioregions: s NCo, n&ampc SNF, Teh/WTR, ScV, CCo, SCoRO, s ChI, PR

California counties: Tulare, San Diego, Kern, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, San Joaquin, Butte, Merced, Monterey, Sutter, Santa Barbara, Tehama, Glenn, Colusa, Mendocino, Contra Costa, Alameda, Fresno, San Francisco, Madera, El Dorado, Ventura

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