STITCHWORT & CHICKWEED

In hedgerows and woodlands the Greater Stitchwort provides splashes of pure white.  Each flower has five deeply bisected petals.  

The leaves are long and narrow like short grass blades in pairs along the stems.

The stems are as fine as a thread so that it needs other plants to lean on and this is one explanation of the name STITCHwort.  (BTW 'wort' is pronounced 'wert' not 'wart').

The other explanation is that a potion of stitchwort and acorns in wine was once used to cure a stitch in the side or other similar pains.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

A mass of sprawling stems and leaves dotted with tiny white stars is the Chickweed (Stellaria media).

Close to, you can see that it is related to the Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) with five divided petals looking like ten, but on a much smaller scale.

The leaves are smooth and shiny, quite different from the leaves of the similar Mouse-ear (Cerastium fontanum), which are furry - like a mouse's ear.