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Cerastium holosteoides

Common name:	Common Mouse-Ear Chickweed	Family:	Caryophyllaceae
Author:	Fries.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:	Cerastium triviale (Link.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	A cosmopolitan plant, found n most regions of the world, including Britain.
Habitat:	Mostly in wet places. Grassland, shingle, dunes, waysides, waste places and cultivated ground.
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	C. adsurgens[B,P] C. fontanum ssp. holosteoides[B] C. fontanum ssp. holosteoides auct. non[P] C. fontanum ssp. triviale[B,,P] C. fontanum ssp. vulgare[B,C,P] C. fontanum vulgare[DUTCH] C. holosteoides var. vulgare[B,P] C. vulgatum[B,P] C. vulgatum var. hirsutum[B,P] C. vulgatum var. holosteoides[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Big Chickweed [P], Gewone Hoornbloem [D],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Pink family

Physical Characteristics

Annual/Perennial. . It is in flower from April to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Flies. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Leaves and young shoots[179]. This report refers to the sub-species C. holosteoides glandulosum. Koch.[179].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

See the plants native habitat for ideas on its cultivation needs.
This species is closely related to C. fontanum, the common mouse-ear, and is seen as no more than a sub-species of that species by many botanists.

Propagation

Seed - we have no information on this species but suggest sowing the seed in spring in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer.
Division in spring might be possible.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Cerastium fontanum ssp. vulgare (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for the family Caryophyllaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[179] Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 1977
A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Cerastium+holosteoides
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Cerastium+holosteoides

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.