Cerastium arvense
{{short description|Species of flowering plant in the pink family Caryophyllaceae}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Cerastium arvense 5618.JPG
|genus = Cerastium
|species = arvense
|authority = L.
}}
Cerastium arvense is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names field mouse-ear{{cite web|url=http://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/index.php?q=node/3176|title=Cerastium arvense (Field Mouse-ear)|website=Online Atlas of the British and Irish flora|accessdate=16 July 2014}} and field chickweed.{{cite web|url=http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CEAR4|title=Cerastium arvense L.|publisher=USDA |accessdate=16 July 2014}} It is a widespread species, occurring throughout Europe and North America, as well as parts of South America. It is a variable species. There are several subspecies, but the number and defining characteristics are disputed.[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200007033 Flora of North America]
Description
File:Cerastium arvense 006.jpg banks Quebec, Canada]]
Cerastium arvense is a perennial herb growing up to {{convert|30|-|45|cm|abbr=on}}{{cite web|url=http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?2907,2933,2934|title=Jepson Manual Treatment|work=Regents of the University of California|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|accessdate=15 May 2017}} tall. It takes the form of a mat, clump, creeper, or upright flower, and may grow from a taproot or tangled system of rhizomes. It is usually somewhat hairy in texture, often with glandular hairs. The leaves are linear, lance-shaped, or oblong, and a few centimeters in length. The inflorescence may consist of a single flower to a dense cluster of many. The flower has five white petals, each with two lobes, and five hairy green sepals at the base. The fruit is a capsule up to {{convert|1.5|cm|abbr=on}} long with ten tiny teeth at the tip, which contains several brown seeds.
Cultivation
Gardeners interested in wildflowers disagree on if field mouse-ears should be grown in gardens. Noted rock gardener Louise Beebe Wilder recommended against it in the strongest terms. However C.W. Wood and Claude A. Barr both thought that a specimen selected for good qualities had a place in a garden, such as a groundcover in difficult shady spots.{{cite book |last1=Barr |first1=Claude A. |title=Jewels of the plains : wild flowers of the Great Plains grasslands and hills |date=1983 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |location=Minneapolis |isbn=0-8166-1127-0 |page=55}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons-inline|2=Cerastium arvense}}
- [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Cerastium+arvense Photo gallery]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1370878}}
Category:Plants described in 1753
Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus