Stellaria
Stellaria
Stellaria (pronounced stel-lar-ia) is a genus of about 90-120 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, commonly known as starworts or chickweeds. The name Stellaria comes from the Latin word stella, meaning "star", referring to the shape of the flowers of many species in this genus.
Etymology
The name Stellaria is derived from the Latin word stella, which means "star". This is in reference to the star-shaped flowers that are characteristic of many species in this genus.
Description
Species of Stellaria are annual or perennial herbs. They have simple, opposite, entire to more or less deeply lobed leaves. The flowers are small, with five white petals (rarely greenish), often deeply lobed. The fruit is a capsule.
Species
There are about 90-120 species in the genus Stellaria, including:
- Stellaria media (Common Chickweed)
- Stellaria longipes (Long-stalk Starwort)
- Stellaria holostea (Greater Stitchwort)
- Stellaria graminea (Lesser Stitchwort)
- Stellaria aquatica (Water Chickweed)
Related Terms
- Caryophyllaceae: The family to which Stellaria belongs.
- Genus: A rank in the biological classification (taxonomy) that groups closely related species together.
- Species: The basic unit of biological classification, below the genus level.
- Flowering plants: Plants that produce flowers and seeds, also known as angiosperms.
- Annual plant: A plant that completes its life cycle in one year.
- Perennial plant: A plant that lives for more than two years.
- Herb: A plant that does not produce a woody stem.
- Capsule (fruit): A type of dry fruit that splits open at maturity to release the seeds.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Stellaria
- Wikipedia's article - Stellaria
This WikiMD dictionary article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.
Languages: - East Asian
中文,
日本,
한국어,
South Asian
हिन्दी,
Urdu,
বাংলা,
తెలుగు,
தமிழ்,
ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian
Indonesian,
Vietnamese,
Thai,
မြန်မာဘာသာ,
European
español,
Deutsch,
français,
русский,
português do Brasil,
Italian,
polski