There are many reasons to clearly identify Chickweed. Be it that we want to use the herb for medicinal purposes. Or want to get its valuable minerals into the salad. The reliable recognition of its typical characteristics also helps to avoid confusion with poisonous plants.
Chickweed is a herbaceous plant with small, white flowers
Search in the right places
Chickweed is particularly adaptable. It was one of the first plants to colonize fallow, barren areas. That's why it now has a worldwide distribution. It is particularly well represented in temperate regions. Nevertheless, the herb is picky and does not thrive equally well in every soil. If you want to collect chickweed, you might find it here:
- on arable land,
- in gardens
- along roadsides
- on rubbish dumps
growth and appearance
Chickweed is a delicate plant that, despite its inconspicuousness, can be easily distinguished from other wild plants. These are their visible characteristics:
- annual herbaceous plant
- low growing, between 10 and 40 cm high
- spreads out flat, forms carpets
- Flowers are small, white and numerous
- in mild years flowering time is all year round
- Flowers only open when the weather is nice
- the plant forms capsule fruits with seeds
- Leaves are small, green, oval and pointed
- arranged in pairs opposite each other
- the stem is thin, green and soft
- he has a hairline
risk of confusion
Chickweed can be confused with other species of chickweed, which is not recommended. This is for reasons of taste. While connoisseurs describe chickweed as mild and tasty, star chickweed, for example, is rather inedible. However, it is not poisonous. Not even a similar weed called water gut.
More vigilance is called for with field pain, because this risk of confusion has far-reaching consequences. Ackerpauchheil contains saponins that are toxic to humans. Therefore, the wild plant is considered slightly poisonous. It should not be consumed at all or only in very small amounts.
tips
During its heyday, the chickweed can be clearly distinguished from the chickweed by the color of the flowers. Its flowers are orange. Chickweed knows.
Sow and harvest
If you are unsure about identifying herbs and want to prevent mistakes when collecting, you can also plant chickweed in the garden. The trade now offers seed packets. Cultivating it is worthwhile because chickweed provides us with more valuable ingredients than lettuce, for example.
tips
Chickweed produces copious amounts of seeds. Make sure from the start that it cannot spread throughout the garden. It can then only be fought with difficulty.