''Moenchia erecta'', the erect chickweed or upright chickweed (though the latter name may refer to any species of ''

Moenchia ''Moenchia'' is a genus of plants in the family Caryophyllaceae with three species native to the Mediterranean region of southern Europe and naturalised in southern Africa and parts of North America and Australia. They are herbs, with an annu ...

''), is a small annual plant in the family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranth ...

. It can grow to over 10 cm in height, but it is usually smaller. It has blue-green glaucous

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

, and small, delicate white

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s are longer than the petals, green and bordered in white. The plant is a common pasture weed native to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. It has been introduced elsewhere, including

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, but it is not particularly invasive or competitive. In areas where it has been introduced, it springs up opportunistically in gardens, mowed fields, and other disturbed areas. It prefers moist places, such as grassy

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

s near marshes and coastal hills. The plant grows well in bare, sandy, gravelly soils, such as those at shorelines or on overgrazed fields.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q160144 Caryophyllaceae Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Europe