Description

• Chickweed is a delicate, light green plant with small oval leaves that are 1/2 to 1 1/4 inch long. The leaves grow opposite each other and are usually smooth but may sometimes be hairy toward the base or petiole.Typically, the stems grow prostrate along the soil and only the upper portion rises vertically. Chickweed stems are the same light green color as the leaves and produce vertical rows of hairs. Chickweed bears white, oval seed capsules. The flower of the chickweed may be its most identifiable part. Though it appears this small white bloom has 10 petals, the chickweed blossom is actually made up of five deeply lobed petals.
  
  

Habitat

• Chickweed adapts to a variety of soil conditions including sandy, loamy, clay, acidic, alkaline and neutral; however, it does prefer moist soil. Chickweed grows in light woodland environments that provide partial shade and regular moisture. It also grows in cultivated beds and areas where the soil has been disturbed.
  
  

Cultivation

• Chickweed is an easy plant to grow. When provided with fertile soil and regular moisture, chickweed becomes lush and propagates quickly. It produces flowers and seeds throughout the year until halted by harsh weather or hot, dry conditions. Chickweed is a favorite food for several species of butterfly and caterpillars. Allowing it to grow in your garden may decrease insect damage to other plants.
  
  

Medicinal Benefits

• According to information published by the website Plants For A Future, chickweed has a long history of use as an external treatment for skin conditions and itching, even soothing extreme cases of itching when other treatments could not. A poultice made of chickweed is said to relieve roseola and diminish the redness of broken capillaries on the skin. Chickweed is classified as an astringent, laxative, diuretic, expectorant and demulcent. Used as a bath infusion it may also decrease inflammation of joints and help heal damaged skin tissue. Pregnant women should not use chickweed medicinally because of its properties as an emmenagogue; however, post-partum, chickweed may help with the production of breast milk.
  
  

Fun Facts

• Chickweed is a tasy wild food that can be added raw to salads, used instead of lettuce on a sandwich or cooked by the same methods spinach and other delicate greens are prepared. In her book "Healing Wise," herbalist Susan Weed even suggests substituting chickweed for half of the basil in a typical pesto recipe. Weed recommends harvesting chickweed away from roadsides or crop fields where car exhaust or pesticides can damage the tender plant.