The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

céraiste aggloméré, large mouse ears, sticky chickweed, sticky mouse-ear chickweed

five-stamen chickweed, five-stamen mouse-ear chickweed, five-stamen mouse-ear chikweed, little chickweed

Habit Plants annual, with slender taproots. Plants annual, with slender taproot.
Stems

erect or ascending, branched, 5–45 cm, hairy, glandular at least distally, rarely eglandular; small axillary tufts of leaves absent.

erect or ascending, branching at base, 1–20 cm, viscid, covered with short, dense, glandular and eglandular hairs; short axillary tufts of leaves absent.

Leaves

not marcescent, ± sessile;

blade 5–20(–30) × 2–8(–15) mm, apex apiculate, covered with spreading, white, long hairs;

basal with blade oblanceolate or obovate, narrowed proximally, sometimes spatulate;

cauline with blade broadly ovate or elliptic-ovate.

not marcescent, sessile but proximal leaves often spatulate;

blade 5–18 × 2–5 mm, covered with short, white hairs;

basal leaves with blade narrowly oblanceolate and ± spatulate, apex obtuse;

cauline with blades ovate to elliptic-oblong, apex obtuse to acute.

Inflorescences

3–50-flowered, aggregated into dense, cymose clusters or in more-open dichasia;

bracts: proximal herbaceous, distal lanceolate, apex acute, with long, mainly eglandular hairs.

open, 3–30-flowered cymes;

bracts lanceolate, with broad, scarious margins, glandular-pubescent.

Pedicels

erect to spreading, often arcuate distally, 0.1–5 mm, shorter than capsule, glandular-pubescent.

curved at apex, often sharply angled at base, 3–8(–12) mm, 1–3 times as long as capsule, densely glandular-pubescent and viscid.

Flowers

sepals green, rarely dark-red tipped, lanceolate, 4–5 mm, margins narrow, apex very acute, usually with glandular hairs as well as long white hairs usually extending beyond apex;

petals oblanceolate, 3–5 mm, rarely absent, usually shorter than sepals, apex deeply 2-fid;

stamens 10;

styles 5.

sepals narrowly lanceolate, 3–5 mm, margins broad, apex acute, glandular-pubescent;

petals with unbranched veins, oblanceolate, 2–3 mm, shorter than sepals, apex notched;

stamens 5;

styles 5.

Capsules

narrowly cylindric, curved, 7–10 mm;

teeth 10, erect, margins convolute.

cylindric, slightly curved, 4.5–6.5 mm, 1.5–2 times as long as sepals;

teeth 10, erect, margins convolute.

Seeds

pale brown, 0.5–0.6 mm, finely tuberculate;

testa inflated or not.

pale yellowish brown, 0.4–0.6 mm, finely tuberculate;

testa not inflated.

2n

= 72.

= 36.

Cerastium glomeratum

Cerastium semidecandrum

Phenology Flowering throughout growing season. Flowering spring.
Habitat Arable land, waste places, roadsides Common weed in dry, sandy, and gravelly places, roadsides and footpaths, parking lots, dunes
Elevation 0-1800 m (0-5900 ft) 0-300 m (0-1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MO; MS; MT; NC; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WA; WV; BC; NF; NS; ON; QC; YT; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced and common in Mexico]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AR; CT; FL; GA; ID; IL; IN; KS; LA; MA; MD; MI; MO; NC; NE; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; WA; WI; BC; NS; ON; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Cerastium glomeratum often has been reported as C. viscosum Linneaus, an ambiguous name; see discussion under the genus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The very broad, scarious margins of the sepals and bracts distinguish this small, ephemeral species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 87. FNA vol. 5, p. 90.
Parent taxa Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Cerastium Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Cerastium
Sibling taxa
C. aleuticum, C. alpinum, C. arcticum, C. arvense, C. axillare, C. beeringianum, C. bialynickii, C. brachypetalum, C. brachypodum, C. cerastoides, C. dichotomum, C. diffusum, C. dubium, C. fastigiatum, C. fischerianum, C. fontanum, C. maximum, C. nutans, C. pumilum, C. regelii, C. semidecandrum, C. terrae-novae, C. texanum, C. tomentosum, C. velutinum, C. viride
C. aleuticum, C. alpinum, C. arcticum, C. arvense, C. axillare, C. beeringianum, C. bialynickii, C. brachypetalum, C. brachypodum, C. cerastoides, C. dichotomum, C. diffusum, C. dubium, C. fastigiatum, C. fischerianum, C. fontanum, C. glomeratum, C. maximum, C. nutans, C. pumilum, C. regelii, C. terrae-novae, C. texanum, C. tomentosum, C. velutinum, C. viride
Synonyms C. acutatum, C. fulvum
Name authority Thuillier: Fl. Env. Paris ed. 2, 226. (1799) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 438. (1753)
Web links