Stellaria
Stellaria is a genus of about 190 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, with a cosmopolitan distribution. Common names include starwort, stitchwort and chickweed.
Description
Stellaria species are relatively small herbs with simple opposite leaves. It produces small flowers with 5 sepals and 5 white petals each usually deeply cleft, or none at all, all free. Stamens 10 or fewer.Uses
Some species, including Stellaria media which is widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, are used as leaf vegetables, often raw in salads. This is a favored food of finches and many other seed-eating birds.Chickweeds are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including angle shades, heart and dart, riband wave, setaceous Hebrew character and the Coleophora case-bearers C. coenosipennella, C. lineolea, C. lithargyrinella, C. solitariella and C. striatipennella.
Several closely related plants referred to as chickweed, but which lack the culinary properties of plants in the genus Stellaria, include members of the genus Cerastium, of similar appearance to Stellaria and also in the.
Species
[Image:Lesser Stitchwort close 800.jpg|thumb|right|Lesser stitchwort, Stellaria graminea]The following species are recognised in the genus Stellaria:Stellaria abadensis Stellaria × adulterina Stellaria alaschanica Stellaria alaskana Stellaria alpamarcae Stellaria × alpestris Stellaria alsine – bog stitchwortStellaria alsinoides Stellaria altimontana Stellaria × ambigua Stellaria amblyosepala Stellaria amplexicaulis Stellaria anagalloides Stellaria andina Stellaria angarae Stellaria angustifolia Stellaria antillana Stellaria apetala Stellaria aphanantha Stellaria aphananthoidea Stellaria apurimacensis Stellaria aquatica – water chickweedStellaria arenarioides Stellaria arvalis Stellaria assadii Stellaria australis Stellaria bayanensis Stellaria bengalensis Stellaria borealis Stellaria brachypetala Stellaria bungeana Stellaria calycantha Stellaria celsa Stellaria chilensis Stellaria chinensis Stellaria circinata Stellaria concinna Stellaria congesta Stellaria congestiflora Stellaria corei Stellaria crassifolia Stellaria crispa Stellaria cryptantha Stellaria cryptopetala Stellaria cuonaensis Stellaria cupaniana Stellaria cuspidata Stellaria darvasievii Stellaria davurica Stellaria debilis Stellaria decipiens Stellaria decumbens Stellaria depauperata Stellaria depressa Stellaria dianthifolia Stellaria dicranoides Stellaria discolor Stellaria edwardsii Stellaria emirnensis Stellaria engleriana Stellaria erecta Stellaria erlangeriana Stellaria eschscholtziana Stellaria fennica Stellaria fenzlii Stellaria filicaulis Stellaria filiformis Stellaria fischeriana Stellaria flaccida – forest starwortStellaria galianoi Stellaria × glauciformis Stellaria gracilenta Stellaria graminea – lesser stitchwortStellaria gyangtseensis Stellaria gyirongensis Stellaria hebecalyx Stellaria henryi Stellaria hibinoi Stellaria hintoniorum Stellaria humifusa – saltmarsh starwortStellaria × hybrida Stellaria imbricata Stellaria infracta Stellaria inundata Stellaria irazuensis Stellaria irrigua Stellaria jacutica Stellaria keraiopetala Stellaria koelzii Stellaria kolymensis Stellaria krylovii Stellaria laeta Stellaria laevis Stellaria lanata Stellaria × lancifolia Stellaria lanipes Stellaria laxmannii Stellaria leptoclada Stellaria littoralis Stellaria longifolia Stellaria longipedicellata Stellaria longipes – long-stalk starwortStellaria macbridei Stellaria macrophylla Stellaria mainlingensis Stellaria mannii Stellaria mcclintockiae Stellaria media – common chickweedStellaria merzbacheri Stellaria miahuatlana Stellaria minuta Stellaria montioides Stellaria multiflora Stellaria multipartita Stellaria neglecta – greater chickweedStellaria nemorum – wood stitchwortStellaria neotomentosa Stellaria nepalensis Stellaria nipponica Stellaria nitens Stellaria nubigena Stellaria omeiensis Stellaria ovata Stellaria ovatifolia Stellaria oxycoccoides Stellaria palustris – marsh stitchwortStellaria papillata Stellaria parviflora Stellaria parviumbellata Stellaria patagonica Stellaria patens Stellaria pauciflora Stellaria pedersenii Stellaria peduncularis Stellaria pedunculosa Stellaria pentastyla Stellaria persica Stellaria petiolaris Stellaria pilosoides Stellaria pinvalliaca Stellaria polyantha Stellaria porsildii Stellaria procumbens Stellaria pterosperma Stellaria pubera – star chickweedStellaria pulvinata Stellaria pungens – prickly starwortStellaria pusilla Stellaria radians Stellaria rajbhandaryi Stellaria recurvata Stellaria reticulivena Stellaria rigida Stellaria roughii Stellaria ruderalis Stellaria ruscifolia Stellaria salicifolia Stellaria sanjuanensis Stellaria sarcophylla Stellaria schischkinii Stellaria semivestita Stellaria sennii Stellaria serpens Stellaria sessiliflora Stellaria sibirica Stellaria sikaramensis Stellaria sikkimensis Stellaria sitchana Stellaria smithii Stellaria soongorica Stellaria souliei Stellaria spinulosa Stellaria standleyi Stellaria strongylosepala Stellaria taiwanensis Stellaria tetrasticha Stellaria tibetica Stellaria uchiyamana Stellaria uda Stellaria undulata Stellaria utcubambensis Stellaria venezuelana Stellaria vestita Stellaria villasenorii Stellaria viridifolia Stellaria wallichiana Stellaria weberbaueri Stellaria weddellii Stellaria williamsiana Stellaria winkleri Stellaria xanthophylla Stellaria yinshanensis Stellaria yungasensis Stellaria yunnanensis Stellaria zangnanensis