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Long-stalked
Starwort
Stellaria longipes Goldie
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Family: Caryophyllaceae,
Pink
Genus: Stellaria
Description
General: 5-30 cm tall.
Growth habit:
low perennial from slender, branched
rhizomes, in small tufts or mats.
Stems:
slender, 4-angled, hairless.
 Leaves: opposite, stalkless, 1-3 cm long and 1-3 mm
broad, rigid and stiff, often tinged bluish-grey, linear to
linear-lance-shaped, pointed, sometimes edged with hairs
at the base, otherwise hairless, the edges smooth.
 Flowers: white, single to several in open clusters.
Stalks slender, erect, up to 8 cm long, with membranous
bracts. Sepals lance-shaped, mostly pointed, about 4 mm
long, with membranous edges, hairless or rarely edged
with minute hairs, 3-nerved. Petals 5, deeply 2-lobed, cut
almost to base, mostly slightly longer than sepals.
Flowering time: Late May-August.
 Fruits: shiny capsules, usually dark purplish green,
somewhat longer than the calyx, opening by 6 teeth at tip.
Seeds about 0.8 mm long, lightly net-veined.
Distribution
Moist soil, streambanks, rocky slopes, and mountain
meadowland, foothills to alpine zone, in s. and w. parts of
MT. Also from AK to Newfoundland, s. to CA, AZ, NM,
MN, and NY, and in Eurasia.
Edible plant: see below. |
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(click on image for full size)
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All starworts are good sources of vitamin C and minerals. Their young leaves and stems make an excellent salad green, potherb or cooked vegetable, similar to spinach. Plants with hairy stems are probably best cooked. Chopped starwort can also be used to make a flavorful creamed soup or puree, and it has even been added to pancakes. Dried plants make a refreshing tea.
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