Common chickweed is an excellent ground cover plants that help in erosion control. It also can be used as a vegetable crop for human and other animals. It's said that chickweed is the reason we call food medicine, and medicine food (as Hippocrates is known for saying), since it's a "tonic" food that is both edible and medicinal. It supports the digestive process and a "slimming remedy" for underactive thyroid gland issues.

_{Photo by @krnel}

Other common names for chickweed are chickenwort, craches, maruns and winterweed. The scientific botanical name for chickweed is Stellaria media. Other names include Alsine media, Capiqui, Fleur en Satin, Herbe de Langue, Hierba Gallinera, Morgeline, Mouron des Oiseaux, Pamplina, Star Chickweed, Starweed, Stellaire Intermédiaire and Stellaire Moyenne.

_{Ursus sapien/wikimedia - CC BY-SA 3.0}

Key Points

• common all over the world
• high in Vitamin C and A
• edible, cooked tastes like spinach
• medicinally used for skin and digestive issues

Where is it found?

Common chickweed is native to Europe and introduced in North America to become naturalized almost everywhere. It's widespread across the planet, including Asia and Africa.

You can find this almost anywhere, from lawns to gardens, as well as meadows, waste places, open areas and forests. It pops up everywhere.

What's it used for?

As a food source it can be eaten. Young leaves, raw or cooked, can be added as a potherb. They can also be added to salads. Cooked leaves are very similar to spring spinach.

They are very nutritious, containing 14.5g protein, 2.4g fat, and 63.9g carbohydrates and 20.5g fiber per 100g. It also has 30mg Vitamin A, 375mg Vitamin C, and some B Vitamins.

Seeds can be ground into powder and used to make bread or thicken soups. Seeds have 17.8% protein and 5.9% fat.

Medicinally, the leaf is used to treat constipation, stomach and bowel problems, blood disorders, asthma and other lung diseases, obesity, a vitamin C deficiency disease called scurvy, a skin condition called psoriasis, rabies, itching, and muscle and joint pain. Applied to the skin to treat kin problems like boils, abscesses and ulcers.

Are there any risks?

It's safe, apart from having saponins which is toxis, but is so poorly absorbed by the body that it tends to pass through without causing any harm. Saponins are also broken down by cooking. If you're worried, just cook it first. Some beans also contains saponins.

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References:

• Stellaria media
• CHICKWEED
• Stellaria media - (L.)Vill.
• Chickweed (Stellaria Media) As A Healing Food, Medicine, And Magical Plant Ally

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Previous posts on Getting to Know Herbs:
Black Elder | Northern Bayberry | Lady's Mantle | Hyssop | Burdock | Catnip | Lavender | Yarrow | Marshmallow | Skullcap | Codonopsis (Poor Man's Ginseng) | Schisandra | Rhodiola | Canadian Goldenrod | German Chamomile | Blue Vervain | Blessed or Holy Thistle | Common Horehound | Cayenne | Ashwagandha | Gotu Kola | Common Verbana/Vervain | Holy Basil | Sweet
Annie | Globe Artichoke | Butterfly Weed / Pleurisy Root | Joe-Pye Weed / Gravel Root | Valerian | Malva/Mallow | Boneset | Elecampane | Lungwort | Cramp Bark | Motherwort | Common Plantain | Eleuthero (Siberian ginseng) | Black Cohosh | Common Bearberry | Mahonia Mountain Grape (Oregon Grape) | Blue Cohosh | Goldenseal

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