Description

Key Information:

Soil: (Xeric) Dry. Drought tolerant.
Sun: Full Sun to Part Sun
Height: 3-10″
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Season: May – September

More Details:

Suggested Uses: This plant makes a very nice low growing ground cover that has a showy blanket of white flowers, mostly in mid to late spring. It will cascade over a wall and grow between cracks in the rocks. It grows best on sandy, gravelly and rocky soils, but will grow in a well-drained garden soil also. This is a very useful plant for landscaping!

Native Range: Native to New England, the Rocky Mountains and scattered regions throughout the Midwest.

Pollinators: Small bees and flies.

Flowers: The 5 petals are notched so they almost look like 10 petals.
Leaves: The opposite leaves are small and linear.

Food Uses: The young plants can be eaten as raw or cooked greens.

Other Names: Meadow chickweed, field mouse-ear. Named for the chickens and tiny birds that eat its seeds.

Note: There are several subspecies of Cerastium arvense present in North America which can be difficult to tell apart. Two can be found in Minnesota. C. arvense strictum is native to North America. This subspecies is smaller, has a taproot and short rhizomes. C. arvense arvense is native to Europe but introduced (and common) throughout North America. This subspecies is taller and has aggressive rhizomes.

More information: USDA plant profile