Sticky chickweed (Cerastium glomeratum)

Synonyms: Cerastium acutatum, Cerastium glomeratum var. apetalum, Cerastium viscosum

Common Names: Clammy chickweed, sticky mouse-ear chickweed

Description:

Habit: Winter or spring annual that can reach a height of 4-10 inches.

Leaves: Opposite, sessile, in pairs; 0.75 inches long, half as wide, green in color, bluntly ovate, broadly oblong or obovate, smooth margins, covered in hairs that give it a sticky texture from glandular secretions.

Stems: Erect to ascending, leafy, light green to dark purple in color, terete, hairy.

Flowers: Dense clusters from stems, individual or small clusters from leaf axils; 0.25 inches across, 5 petals, white in color, 5 green sepals, petals notched; sepals are lanceolate with long hairs.

Fruit and seeds: Cylindrical capsule, membranous, 10 small teeth. Seeds are obovoid or heart-shaped, somewhat flattened, minutely pebbly.

Habitat: Native to Europe and Asia. Can be found in woodlands, grassy meadows, lawns, pastures, roadsides, waste places and disturbed sites.

Reproduction: By seed.

Similar species: Other species of chickweed (Cerastium spp.)

Monitoring and rapid response: Hand pull, cultivation, and mulching are all recommended control methods for small populations and young plants. Herbicides should primarily be used for larger infestations. Can be effectively controlled using any of several readily available general use herbicides such as glyphosate, triclopyr, and dicamba.

Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from Illinoiswildflowers.info and University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources IPM Program.

Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org).Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).

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