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Himalayan Chickweed
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Himalayan Chickweed
P Native Photo: Tabish
Common name: Himalayan Chickweed, Himalayan Stichwort, Himalayan Starwort
Botanical name: Mesostemma latifolium    Family: Caryophyllaceae (Carnation family)
Synonyms: Stellaria himalayensis, Leucostemma latifolia, Stellaria latifolia

Himalayan Chickweed is a branched, protrate herb, 7-25 cm. Lower leaves are shortly stalked, ovate-heart-shaped or round, with a sharp point at the tip, 5-17 x 4-8 mm, thick-margined; upper leaves are elliptic-lanceshaped, smaller. Flowers are borne singly, flower-stalks arising from upper axils, slender, hairless. Sepals are 4, sharp-tipped, lanceshaped, 5-7 mm long, narrow scarious-margined. Petals are 4, divided into two, up to half or up to full, with oblong blunt lobes, twice as long as sepals, white. Stamens are 8, styles 2. Capsules are ovoid, about 3 x 2 mm, hyaline; seeds nearly round, a compressed, 0.7 - 1 mm in diam., brown, smooth. Himalayan Chickweed is found in temperate and alpine Himalayas, from Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand to Nepal, at altitudes of 2000-3400 m. Flowering: April-June.

Identification credit: D.S. Rawat, Nidhan Singh, Tabish Photographed in Dhanaulti, Uttarakhand.

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