Burke: Cerastium arvense vs. Cerastium brachypetalum

	Cerastium arvense	Cerastium brachypetalum
	starry cerastium, field chickweed, field mouse-ear chickweed	gray mouse-ear chickweed
Habit	Tufted perennial, often forming loose mats to 4 dm. broad, glabrous to glandular-pubescent, the flowering stems 5-50 cm. tall.
Leaves	Leaves opposite, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1-nerved, 1-3 cm. long; cauline leaves often with bundles of secondary leaves in their axils.
Flowers	Flowers 3 to 5 or more in an open inflorescence; pedicels slender, erect, 1-3 cm. long; sepals 5, 4-6 mm. long, with stalked glands; petals 5, white, twice as long as the sepals, deeply bi-lobed-obcordate; stamens 10; styles 5.
Fruits	Capsule membranous, cylindric, slightly curved, 1.5 times as long as the sepals, opening by 10 teeth.

	Cerastium arvense	Cerastium brachypetalum
Flowering time	April-August	April-June
Habitat	Open slopes and meadows, from coastal cliffs and balds to inland valleys, rocky hillsides, forest openings, and subalpine meadows.	Dry, disturbed areas.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across North America, except for the south-central and southeastern U.S., to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in southeastern Washington and in the Columbia River Gorge; southern Washington to western Oregon; also occurring in eastern North America. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Introduced from Eurasia
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	C. beeringianum, C. brachypetalum, C. brachypodum, C. dichotomum, C. fontanum, C. glomeratum, C. nutans, C. pumilum, C. semidecandrum, C. tomentosum	C. arvense, C. beeringianum, C. brachypodum, C. dichotomum, C. fontanum, C. glomeratum, C. nutans, C. pumilum, C. semidecandrum, C. tomentosum
Subordinate taxa	C. arvense ssp. strictum
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Cerastium arvense

Cerastium brachypetalum

starry cerastium, field chickweed, field mouse-ear chickweed

gray mouse-ear chickweed

Habit

Tufted perennial, often forming loose mats to 4 dm. broad, glabrous to glandular-pubescent, the flowering stems 5-50 cm. tall.

Leaves

Leaves opposite, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1-nerved, 1-3 cm. long;

cauline leaves often with bundles of secondary leaves in their axils.

Flowers

Flowers 3 to 5 or more in an open inflorescence;

pedicels slender, erect, 1-3 cm. long;

sepals 5, 4-6 mm. long, with stalked glands;

petals 5, white, twice as long as the sepals, deeply bi-lobed-obcordate;

stamens 10;

styles 5.

Fruits

Capsule membranous, cylindric, slightly curved, 1.5 times as long as the sepals, opening by 10 teeth.

Cerastium arvense

Cerastium brachypetalum

Flowering time

April-August

April-June

Habitat

Open slopes and meadows, from coastal cliffs and balds to inland valleys, rocky hillsides, forest openings, and subalpine meadows.

Dry, disturbed areas.

Distribution

Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across North America, except for the south-central and southeastern U.S., to the Atlantic Coast.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Occurring east of the Cascades crest in southeastern Washington and in the Columbia River Gorge; southern Washington to western Oregon; also occurring in eastern North America.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Introduced from Eurasia

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa