Weedy Wednesday - Chickweed

Description:
A delicate annual herb, with small, paired, egg shaped, pointed-tip leaves on long, round, weak stems that have a line of hairs between the nodes. It has small white flowers with 5 deeply notched petals that are shorter than the sepals
As A Soil Indicator:
Very low Calcium, Very low Potassium, Very high Phosphorus, High Magnesium, High Iron, High Sulfate, High Copper, High Zinc, High Boron, High Chloride, High Selenium, Little organic matter, Compacted soils, 
Life cycle: 
Annual. Germinates anytime often with a main germination from autumn to spring. Flowers late-winter/spring
Beneficial:
Used as a green salad or cooked vegetable. It has medicinal and therapeutic uses, is rich in vitamin C and may be eaten as a salad vegetable. 
Detrimental:
A very competitive plant in higher rainfall areas. It can accumulate nitrate and potentially become toxic to stock. In addition, it has a relatively high oxalic acid content and a low level of calcium that may have an adverse effect on dietary calcium bio-availability.
Seed:
Buried seeds are known to retain viability for at least 25 and probably over 40 years. Seed buried in soil for 10 years gave up to 22% germination.
Toxicity:
Not recorded as toxic

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