Stellaria aquaticaScop.

giantchickweed

WFO wfo-0000436514 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Stellaria aquatica, photographed by Liubov Ilminska
fig. a Liubov Ilminska, CC0 1.0 / 2022-06-05 / obs. 204039154
Stellaria aquatica, photographed by Anastasia_Surkova
fig. b Anastasia_Surkova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201644407
Stellaria aquatica, photographed by Юрий Данилевский (Yuriy Danilevsky)
fig. c Юрий Данилевский (Yuriy Danilevsky), CC BY 4.0 / obs. 199687797
Stellaria aquatica, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. d Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197885499
Stellaria aquatica, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. e Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 193654546
Stellaria aquatica, photographed by thomas_oswald
fig. f thomas_oswald, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 193514450
Stellaria aquatica, photographed by Юрий Данилевский (Yuriy Danilevsky)
fig. g Юрий Данилевский (Yuriy Danilevsky), CC BY 4.0 / obs. 190072046
Stellaria aquatica, photographed by Zinogre
fig. h Zinogre, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 188490498

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 61 botanical countries

Regions where Stellaria aquatica is native: Altay, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Manchuria, Nansei-shoto, North Caucasus, Qinghai, Taiwan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Assam, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AltayChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanInner MongoliaIranJapanKazakhstanKrasnoyarskManchuriaNorth CaucasusQinghaiTaiwanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanWest SiberiaXinjiangAssamNepalPakistanVietnamWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine KoreaNansei-shoto
Native distribution of Stellaria aquatica, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Japan JAP
Kazakhstan KAZ
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Manchuria CHM
Nansei-shoto NNS
North Caucasus NCS
Qinghai CHQ
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Nepal NEP
Pakistan PAK
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 1,132 in flower of 1,179 examined

Peak flowering in Feb. Each bar is the share of Stellaria aquatica observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 1,132 of 1,179 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 13 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Alsine aquatica (L.) Britton
  • Alsine uliginosa Vill.
  • Cerastium aquaticum (L.) Fr.
  • Cerastium aquaticum L.
  • Cerastium deflexum Ser.
  • Cerastium maximum Gilib.
  • Cerastium petiolare Hance
  • Cerastium scandens Lej.
  • Larbrea aquatica Ser.
  • Malachium aquaticum (L.) Fr.
  • Malachium calycinum Willk.
  • Myosanthus aquaticus (L.) Desv.
  • Myosoton aquaticum (L.) Moench

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol MYAQ. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.