Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Core eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Genus: Cerastium
Species: C. glomeratum
Binomial name: Cerastium glomeratum
Synonym: Cerastium viscosum
Common names: Sticky mouse-ear chickweed, Broad-leaved Mouse-ear Chickweed, Sticky chickweed, Clammy chickweed, Glomerate Mouse-Eared Chickweed
Cerastium glomeratum is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to northern Africa, Europe and western Asia but it is known on most continents as an introduced species. It grows in many types of habitat e.g. lawns, gardens, footpaths, walks and banks, pastures, disturbed sites, waste areas and in crops. It prefers damp shady sites.
Cerastium glomeratum is an annual herb growing from a slender taproot. It produces an upright or spreading, branched, soft, hairy stems usually up to 5-20 cm tall, occasionally they can reach up to 45 cm in height.
The hairy leaves are up to >3 cm long and >15 mm wide and are paired along the stems. The hairs on the stems and leaves may have a sticky texture from minute glandular secretions.
The inflorescence bears as few as 3 or as many as 50 small flowers clustered with short cymes. These flowers have five white petals (2.5-5 mm long) with deeply notched tips. There are five sepals and 10 stamens. Some flowers lack petals.
The fruit is small cylindrical capsules (5-10 mm long and 1.3-2 mm wide), each with ten small teeth at their tip. They turn from green to pale brown or whitish in colour as they mature. Each capsule contains several pale brown seeds (0.5-0.6 mm across) with slightly rough surfaces (i.e. they are finely tuberculate). When dry the capsules split open dropping the seeds. Cerastium glomeratum reproduces only by seed which is spread by wind, water, vehicles, in mud and in contaminated agricultural produce.
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
