Stellaria pubera Michx.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Caryophyllaceae

• Scientific Name

  Stellaria pubera Michx.

• Description

  Species Description - Erect or ascending perennial 1.5–4 dm, thinly spreading-hairy, the stem often pubescent in 1 or 2 lines; early floriferous shoots followed by taller, more vigorous, chiefly vegetative ones; lvs elliptic to lanceolate or oblanceolate or ovate, 2–9 × 1–3 cm, acute; fls in leafy, open, terminal cymes; pedicels 1–3 cm; pet and the ovoid fr shorter than the sep; seeds 1.7–2 mm, asymmetrically reniform, coarsely sulcate-papillate. Woods; N.J. to Ill., s. to Fla. and Ala. Apr.–June. Var. pubera (2n=30), with all but the lowermost lvs sessile, and with obtuse to acute sep mostly 4–6 mm that are usually puberulent on the back, occurs mainly in and e. of the Appalachian Mts., but may be found anywhere in the range of the sp. as a whole. Var. silvatica (Bég.) Weath. (2n=60), with the middle and lower lvs narrowed to a winged petiole 1–2 cm, and with the lance-acuminate sep 7–10 mm and glabrous except for the ciliate margins, occurs chiefly in and w. of the Appalachian Mts. If the var. silvatica is treated as a distinct sp. it apparently takes the name S. corei Shinners. S. silvatica (Bég.) Maguire is preoccupied, and Alsine tennesseensis properly applies to a form of var. pubera instead of var. silvatica.

• Common Names

  star chickweed