Cerastium arvense, SE: Fältarv, DE: Acker-Hornkraut,
NL: Akkerhoornbloem, UK: Field Mouse-Ear, Field chickweed, Starry Grasswort

Scientific name:  Cerastium arvense L.
Swedish name:   Fältarv
German name:  Acker-Hornkraut
Nederlandse naam:  Akkerhoornbloem
English name:  Field Mouse-Ear, Field chickweed, Starry Grasswort
Family:  Caryophyllaceae, Nejlikväxter, pink family or carnation family

Sweden Flowers - Cerastium arvense, Fältarv, Acker-Hornkraut, akkerhoornbloem, Field Mouse-Ear, Field chickweed, Starry Grasswort
Location: Ragunda, Hammarstrand; Date Picture Taken: July 20, 2008

Life form:  Perennial, clumped and taprooted, or mat-forming and long-creeping rhizomatous
Leaves:  Opposite, linear, lance-shaped, or oblong
Flowers:  Five white petals, each with two lobes, ten yellow stamens and five hairy green sepals at the base
Flowering Period:  May, June, July, August
Habitat:  Pastureland, meadows, farmland, settlements


Derivation of the botanical name:
Cerastium, from Greek kerastis, kerastes, "horned", keras (κέρας) "a horn" (the capsules are horn shaped).
arvensis, of cultivated fields; arvum, field, cultivated land, plowed land, and -ensis, a suffix for nouns: country or place of origin or habitat
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.