stitch·wort

(stĭch′wûrt′, -wôrt′)

Any of several low-growing plants of the genus Stellaria of the pink family, having small white flowers with five deeply notched petals.

[Middle English, from Old English sticwyrt, agrimony : stice, stich (from its alleged ability to cure sharp pains in the side); see stitch + wyrt, plant; see wort¹.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

stitchwort

(ˈstɪtʃˌwɜːt)

(Plants) any of several low-growing N temperate herbaceous plants of the caryophyllaceous genus Stellaria, having small white star-shaped flowers

[C13: so named because it was once thought to be a remedy for stitches in the side]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

stitchwort - low-growing north temperate herb having small white star-shaped flowers; named for its alleged ability to ease sharp pains in the side

greater stitchwort, starwort, Stellaria holostea

chickweed - any of various plants of the genus Stellaria

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References in periodicals archive

As you wander among oak, ash, alder, birch, rowan and hazel, the nature detectives of the family can try to spot less obvious species, such as golden saxifrage in the wettest areas, bog stitchwort, and a single wild service tree.

The 24 enchanting woodlands and forests in Surrey you need to explore; Make the most of Surrey's magical landscape by visiting these wonderful woodlands and forests

Putting a piece of grass between your thumbs and blowing to make it whistle, popping the seed heads of Greater Stitchwort, wrapping the stem of plantain around it's own seed head and firing it, making large leaves 'pop' on your cupped hand and looking for the little green bug in the bit of 'cuckoo spit' on various plants.

EXPERT OPINION

FIELDS IN JUNE SUNSHINE: wandering through green lanes and along wild flower verges, stitchwort glows white alongside red campion, viper's bugloss splashes the paths with blue, butter-yellow birds-foot trefoil peeps through long grasses.

Nature's pesticides: a visit to an organic farm in Norfolk, England

Carol: Carpets road verges alongside stitchwort and bluebells.

Which is the blooming best? Cast vote for your favourite

prayer, Lyrics for whimsies small as the lesser stitchwort, Bass notes

Coda

He said: "I thought readers would like see the natural beauty of the contrast between the blue of the forget me not and the white of the stitchwort in my sisters garden.

YOUR pictures

I was in no hurry and the two mile walk would take a couple of hours as I was waylaid by so many small things; the holes in the bank - homes of tiny creatures under a tangle of stitchwort's tiny white starry flowers - the seed pods of which made a satisfying popping sound when squeezed and the flowers of foxgloves too gave the same satisfaction when held between fingers and thumbs with no thought of the poison they contained.

dorinda mccann

Gardeners have also introduced red campion, nettle-leafed bellflowers, greater stitchwort, foxglove and agrimony to the copse.

A walk on the wild side in city reserve; Park allotment attracts wide range of animals

Alison J Best's exhibition, called Blossoming Out: The Art of the Garden, is in her own words a celebration of the joy of flowers and plants with her depictions of snowdrops seen growing beside a road in Burnopfield, forsythia, iris, Canterbury bells, honeysuckle, daisy, colchicums, stitchwort, clover, toadflax, spring hellebore, foxglove, star of Bethlehem, wood anemone, rudbeckia, tulip, celandine, speedwell, daffodil and philadelphus.

Environment: spiration from the fields and hedgerows; Environment Editor Tony Henderson on one woman's joy in flowers and plants

Stellaria graminea L.; Common Stitchwort; Grasslike Starwort; Field south of Millie's Pond and field north of Scott Pond; Rare, but locally frequent; (* #); C = 0; BSUH 12557.

The vascular flora and vegetational communities of Hayes Arboretum in Wayne County, Indiana