Plants perennial, rhizomatous. Stems erect, branched, square, 10-40 cm, with alternating lines of soft, spreading, flexuous, mainly eglandular hairs. Leaves petiolate (proximal) or subsessile (distal); blade elliptic, broadly lanceolate to ovate, 1-5 cm × 5-16 mm, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute, glabrous, sparsely pubescent adaxially on midrib. Inflorescences terminal, 3-7-flowered, cymes dichotomously branched; bracts foliaceous, lanceolate, 5-30 mm, soft, margins entire, distal ones ciliate on margins and adaxial vein. Pedicels erect, 5-45 mm, softly pubescent. Flowers 10-16 mm diam.; sepals 5, obscurely veined, narrowly triangular, (5-)7-10(-12) mm, margins narrow, membranous, apex acuminate, glabrous or with shortly ciliate margins; petals 5, equaling to slightly shorter than sepals; stamens 10; styles 3, ascending, ca. 2.5 mm. Capsules straw colored to pale brown, broadly ovoid, ca. 5 mm, shorter than sepals, apex obtuse, opening by 3 valves; carpophore absent. Seeds brown, broadly reniform, ca. 2 mm diam., coarsely sulcate-papillate. 2n = 60.

Flowering spring. Rocky woods; 300-1000 m; Ala., Conn., Ind., Ky., Miss., N.C., Ohio, Pa., Tenn., Va., W.Va.

Stellaria corei has been introduced in Connecticut. It is very similar to S. pubera but differs in its long-acuminate sepals.

Local in a few counties along the Ohio River. Found in habitats similar to those of the species.

Perennial herb with rhizomes 10 - 40 cm tall

Stem: upright, branched, four-angled, with alternating lines of soft, spreading hairs.

Leaves: opposite, stalked (lower), nearly stalkless (upper), 1 - 5 cm long, 5 mm - 1.6 cm wide, elliptic or broadly lance-shaped or egg-shaped with a tapering base and pointed tip, one-veined, with a few hairs along the midrib.

Inflorescence: a terminal, forking cluster (dichotomously branched cyme) of three to seven flowers, subtended by a pair of bracts. Bracts leaf-like, 5 mm - 3 cm long, lance-shaped.

Flowers: white, 1 - 1.6 cm wide. Stalk upright, 5 mm - 4.5 cm long, softly hairy. Stamens ten. Styles three.

Sepals: five, distinct, green, 7 - 10 mm long, narrowly triangular to lance-shaped with a pointed tip, membranous-margined, with hairy-fringed margins.

Petals: five, white, equal to or slightly shorter than sepals, deeply two-lobed (giving the appearance of ten petals).

Fruit: a dehiscent capsule, opening by three valves, straw-colored to light brown, about 5 mm long, shorter than the sepals, broadly egg-shaped with a blunt apex. Seeds brown, about 2 mm wide, broadly kidney-shaped, laterally compressed, coarsely grooved-bumpy.

Similar species: Typical Stellaria pubera differs by having shorter, egg-shaped sepals.

Flowering: May

Habitat and ecology: Rare in the Chicago Region. Has been found on limestone bluffs in rich woods.

Occurence in the Chicago region: native

Etymology: Stellaria comes from the Latin words stella, meaning star, and -aria meaning "pertaining to," referring to the shape of the flowers. Pubera means hairy. Sylvatica means "of the forest."

Author: The Morton Arboretum