Cerastium brachypetalum

Bearded chickweed ( Cerastium brachypetalum )

The Bearded chickweed ( Cerastium brachypetalum ), also called Small-flowered chickweed, is a flowering plant in the carnation family ( Caryophyllaceae ).

Description

The Bearded chickweed grows as an annual or biennial herbaceous plant, reaching heights of growth of about 5 to 30 cm. The aboveground plant parts are gray-green in color. The trichomes are gray and quite long. The whole plant can also be glandular hairy. The against-constant leaves are oblong- ovate, the lower narrowed into the petiole.

The Bearded chickweed predominantly flowers from April to June. The inflorescence is loose, only the topmost twigs are closer to each other. All wrappers are herbaceous and without skin edge. They are particularly hairy protruding at the top. The crown is white, and shorter until most as long as the calyx. The stamens are hairy.

The oblong- shaped capsule rolled fruit jumps to ten teeth. The fruit stalk is about two to three times as long as the calyx.

Occurrence

Cerastium brachypetalum comes from southern Scandinavia to southern Europe before. East to Russia, Asia Minor, Caucasus. It is also found in North Africa.

In Austria it is scattered to rare and Switzerland scattered before. In Germany one finds the Bearded chickweed scattered to rare, especially in the southern part of Germany. In the north, it is rare.

The Bearded chickweed grows sociable premolars in dry grasslands, along roads, embankments and Erdanrissen. It prefers warm and dry, moderately nutrient-rich, calcareous clay or loess.

System

Specimens with glandular hairs were formerly known as Ceratium brachypetalum subsp. tauricum a separate subspecies assigned. Synonyms for Cerastium brachypetalum pers. are Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. tauricum ( Sprengel ) Murbeck and Cerastium tauricum Sprengel.