Stellaria graminea L., Lesser Stitchwort

Account Summary

Growth form and preferred habitats

This is a very common, widespread and locally abundant weedy perennial of moist to dry, nutrient-poor, moderately acid, stony, sometimes sandy or calcareous grassy habitats. A very variable species, most frequent on disturbed grassland, verges and ruderal situations, but elsewhere it can be found on marine forelands, including on grey and fixed (green) coastal dunes (Jonsell et al. 2001). S. graminea is probably one of the most common wildflowers of open ground on acidic loam or sandy soils throughout lowland Britain and Ireland. Generally it appears to prefer lighter, free-draining, acid soils, but while it avoids wet, strongly acid peaty soils, the same cannot be said of it in lime-rich districts, where shallow raw peaty humus accumulates directly over hard crystalline calcareous rock. Lesser Stitchwort is most common in rough grassy wayside places on hedge, river and streamside banks, and is frequent in semi-shade in open scrub and woods on rocky talus slopes and around lakeshores. In addition, it often forms large stands growing along and supported by wire fences around permanent rough pastures. In the latter situation, it is also frequently associated with taller, rough, nutrient-enriched grass around animal droppings.

Lesser Stitchwort can easily be identified by its narrow, fresh green, grass-like opposite leaves, and its flowers, which are produced from May to August or even later, are smaller than those of S. palustris (Marsh Stitchwort) or S. holostea (Greater Stitchwort), and have very narrow, deeply notched white petals. The species is a hemicryptophyte perennial (ie overwintering buds are borne at ground level, often protected by leaf litter).

Reproduction

Flowering of S. graminea begins in May and can continue until the first frost in October or later, although the peak is in June. The inflorescence is long-stalked, lax and bears around 50 flowers. The flowers are self-compatible and protandrous, attracting flies, bees and small beetles. Seed set is good.

Vegetative reproduction also occurs, mainly in open habitats where growth of a slender, creeping rhizome develops compact, clonal clumps (Jonsell et al. 2001).

Variation

S. graminea is very variable in habit, leaf shape and size, density and length of cilia on bracts and sepals, and number and size of flowers. Much of the variation is environmentally induced, especially with respect to light levels and soil moisture. Complete or partial male-sterility is rather common and is associated with dwarfism of flowers, capsules, seeds and vegetative size (Jonsell et al. 2001).

Fermanagh occurrence

In Fermanagh, S. graminea is very common and widespread, having been recorded in 319 tetrads, 60.4% of those in the VC.

British and Irish occurrence

S. graminea is common and widespread throughout most of lowland Britain & Ireland. However, in comparison with S. holostea (to whose morphology, reproductive biology and general ecology it appears similar, at least at a superficial level of examination), it is less tolerant of shade and more scarce, rare or absent than Greater Stitchwort in the wetter, more boggy, acid peat landscapes of the extreme west of Ireland, NW Scotland and the highlands. In SE England, like S. holostea, it avoids swampy conditions around The Wash (Clapham et al. 1987; Preston et al. 2002).

European and world occurrence

Like S. palustris, Lesser Stitchwort is a Eurosiberian boreo-temperate species and is very common and widespread in northern parts of Europe and Asia, well into Russian Siberia. However, it is scarce and thinly scattered south of the European Alps and Pyrenees, and absent from all the Mediterranean isles, except Corsica, and the Peloponnese (Hultén & Fries 1986, Map 731). S. graminea has travelled with man well beyond its native range and is now widespread in eastern N America, rarer but present in western N America, and scattered in E Asia and New Zealand.

Names

The genus name 'Stellaria' is of medieval origin from the Latin 'stella', meaning 'a star', referring to the shape of the five-petalled flower (Gilbert-Carter 1964). The Latin specific epithet 'graminea' means 'grass-like' and refers to the leaf shape (Johnson & Smith 1942). The English Common name 'Lesser Stitchwort' is a typical, recent, invented, book name of no folklore significance. The 'Stitchwort' part of the name is examined in my Stellaria holostea species account on this website.

Threats

None.

• Find out more about the format of the species accounts
• View abbreviations
• View references for all species accounts
• View a gazetteer of all the sites