Annual Chickweed
Scientific name: Cerastium semidecandrum L.
Family: Caryophyllaceae
MORPHOLOGY
Habit and dimensions: An annual herbaceous plant, ranging from 5-30 cm.
Stems: Ascending-erect stems with dichotomous branching.
Leaves: Opposite, entire, elliptic-ovate (4-8 x 6-20 mm), blunt apex.
Flowers: Multiflorous dichasial cyme, with fruiting peduncles up to 1.5 cm long, folded at a right angle; hermaphrodite flower, actinomorphic, dialipetalous, pentamerous, 5 free sepals, 5 white petals, entire or bilobed (up to 1/8, 1/10 of the length). Blooms from February to June.
Fruits and seeds: Capsule with 10 teeth, 6 mm.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
Found throughout Italy, thriving in ruderal and semiruderal environments, including sandy areas and rocky outcrops between 0 and 1,900 m.
Photo: under the free license of Saxifraga and Rutger Barendse, Ed Stikvoort



















