Species

Stellaria graminea

Etymology

Stellaria: star flower
graminea: grassy

Common Name(s)

stitchwort

Family

Caryophyllaceae

Brief Description

Small herb with thin straggling stems, often scrambling through taller vegetation, leaves lance-shaped, usually up to 30 mm long and 5 mm wide in pairs along the stem, with many flowers produced in the upper parts of the plant, each up to 9 mm across, the white petals longer than the green sepals.

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

STEGRM

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Distribution

Scattered throughout the North, South and Chatham Islands.

Habitat

Wetlands and margins of water bodies and wet grassland.

Features

Perennial. Stems weak, ascending, 4-angled, glabrous, 15-60-(100) cm long. Lvs green, sessile, connate in pairs, narrow-oblanceolate to narrow-lanceolate below, narrow-lanceolate or becoming linear-lanceolate above, tapering gradually to acute apex and sparsely ciliate or glabrous base, (10)-15-30-(50) × 3-5-(8) mm; margin flat; marginal vein obscure or 0. Infl. a terminal dichasium, lax, (10)-20-60-flowered. Bracts ovate-acuminate to subulate, keeled, 4-7 × 1-3 mm; margins scarious, ciliate. Pedicels slender, patent, glabrous, 10-30-(50) mm long. Sepals narrow-triangular, acute, 3-veined, 4-7 mm long; margins scarious, ciliate. Petals 4-9 mm long, c. = or slightly > sepals. Stamens 10 or fewer. Capsule narrow-ovoid, = or > calyx. Seeds dull brown, c. 1 mm long; papillae low, elongate.

Similar Taxa

Similar to bog stitchwort (S. alsine), but has longer, relatively narrower leaves, many flowered inflorescences with larger white flowers.

Flowering

November to April

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

November to April

Year Naturalised

1878

Origin

Europe and western Asia

Reason for Introduction

Unknown, seed or soil contaminant

Control Techniques

Not controlled in New Zealand.

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Seed dispersed by water and contaminated machinery.

Attribution

Factsheet prepared by Paul Champion and Deborah Hofstra (NIWA). Features description from Webb et al. (1988).

References and further reading

Webb, C.J.; Sykes, W.R.; Garnock-Jones, P.J. (1988). Flora of New Zealand Volume 4: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch.

Johnson PN, Brooke PA (1989).  Wetland plants in New Zealand.   DSIR Field Guide, DSIR Publishing, Wellington. 319pp.

This page last updated on 21 Aug 2013