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Mouse-ear Chickweed

A perennial groundcover turf weed, this immigrant from Eurasia puts out its delicate blooms in early May in Virginia.

Counting its cousins—or, at least, namesakes—both native and naturalized alien, flowering plants that carry the common name "Chickweed" are found throughout the northern temperate zones of both hemispheres.

Along with the Common Dandelion this "family" of lilies is truly universal in the temperate zones.

(The Star Chickweed, also displayed in the Galley is one example found in Virginia.)

It has been surmised that, finding similar plants in the New World, the colonists simply called these new flowering herbs by the same name.

The immigrant Mouse-ear Chickweed's scientific name, Cerastium fontanum, is interesting, too: The prefix comes from the Greek for horn—keras; a reference to the shape and nodding habit of the seed pods. The suffix is botanical Greek for growing in running water.

But for me, the charming common name, mouse-ear, is a perfect moniker for the unusual soft, hairy seed pods.

What do you think?

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Go back to the Main Directory to consider more lilies of the field.