Stellaria media is delicious, edible and nutritious, and is used as a leaf vegetable, often raw in salads. It is one of the ingredients of the symbolic dish consumed in the Japanese spring-time festival, Nanakusa-no-sekku. The plant has medicinal purposes and is used in folk medicine. It has been used as a remedy to treat itchy skin conditions and pulmonary diseases. 17th century herbalist John Gerard recommended it as a remedy for mange. Modern herbalists mainly prescribe it for skin diseases, and also for bronchitis, rheumatic pains, arthritis and period pain. A poultice of chickweed can be applied to cuts, burns and bruises. Not all of these uses are supported by scientific evidence.
This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme.
Weeds I call them.
ReplyDeleteThey may be weeds, but they're pretty weeds.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely little flower. I love the star shape behind the petals. very nice photo!
ReplyDeleteLove the delicate white against the green
ReplyDeleteI have actually eaten this and its young shoots are lovely in salads! Nice photo.
ReplyDeleteIf it's what I think it is, the flowers are microscopic! Great macro!
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