Chickweed

Chickweed

Scientific name: Stellaria media.

Family: Caryophyllaceae

A tiny sprawling weed that appears in early spring. Leaves are opposite, oval and smooth, and organized in long hairy leafstalks. It has adorable small white flowers with petals smaller than sepals. The plant is juicy but not milky.

Many people pull it as a weed; however, traditionally, it is used as a medicine. It can be made in a tea, tincture, poultice, or salve.

Therapeutic properties: demulcent, emollient, pectoral, and nutritive.

Energetics: Cooling and balancing

Uses:

Salves, poultices, and washes are used to treat itchy and inflamed skin conditions.

A tea is used as an expectorant to treat coughs. It is also good for constipation, excessive appetite, inflamed stomach, irritated eyes, and mastitis, among others illnesses.

Even though it is used to lose weight (as break down fat) can also help a malnourished person.

You can add it to your spring salad but make sure you use it in early spring. There is still time. 😀 Chickens love them and make eggs more nutritionally valuable!

Please don’t throw away a valuable plant!

References

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers--E: Eastern Region - Revised Edition by National Audubon Society.

Newcomb's Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb.

Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America, Third Edition by Steven Foster and James A. Duke.

School of Natural Healing Centennial Edition by Dr. John R. Christopher

The Earthwise Herbal, Volume I: A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants by Mathew Wood.

The Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine-Making Guide by Thomas Easley and Steve Horne.