The Common Chickweed is found all over the country. It grows in fields,
in waste ground, and on hedge-banks, and it is in flower from spring
till autumn.
The Chickweed is a feeble, straggling plant, and it grows in an untidy
mass near the ground. It is one of those plants that look very different
in different places. It does not thrive well in dry, stony ground, where
it looks small and dried up. But in untidy gardens where there is good
soil you will find it in large bunches, with many white flowers and
good-sized leaves. The canary birds like it best when there are many
white flowers and seeds.
The white flowers are small, with tiny strap-shaped petals, and there
are five small, green sepals with sharp points which show like the rays
of a green star behind these tiny white petals.
Each flower grows at the end of a stalk which rises between the leaf and
the main stem. The Chickweed leaves are oval, with smooth edges, and
they grow in pairs up the stem. If you look closely at this stem you
will see a line of fine hairs running down one side, and if you break
this stem in two you will find that there is a green thread inside,
which is more difficult to break than its soft green covering.