Buch-Bucha / Common Chickweed
Stellaria media
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu & more
- Flowering
- January-March
How to identify Buch-Bucha
Identify Buch-Bucha by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Tiny deeply notched star-shaped petals (common chickweed).
- Confirm leaf arrangement: Opposite.
- Confirm leaf surface: Pubescent.
- Confirm flower colour: White.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: January-March.
- In India, compare location records such as Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Stellaria media
- Genus
- Stellaria
- Family
- Caryophyllaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Degraded forest areas in high ranges
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- Cosmopolitan
- Found in India
- Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Delhi, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Sikkim
- Flowering & fruiting
- January-March
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf arrangement
- OppositerecordedTwo leaves arise from the stem at the same point, facing each other.“The leaves are green, hairless, oval and opposite, 6 to 25 mm (1⁄4 to 1 in) long by 3 to 10 mm (1⁄8 to 3⁄8 in) wide with a hydathode at the tip.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf surface
- PubescentrecordedCovered in short, soft hairs.“The petioles are 5 to 8 mm long with hairy margins.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Characters marked “recorded” are for Buch-Bucha itself; the rest are typical of the Caryophyllaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
Typical of the family
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
Characters marked “recorded” are for Buch-Bucha itself; the rest are typical of the Caryophyllaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Buch-bucha बुच-बुचा
About Buch-Bucha
A member of the Caryophyllaceae family, Common chickweed (Stellaria media) is a herb. In India it has been recorded in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and 10 other states. It grows in degraded forest areas in high ranges. Flowering and fruiting run from January to March.
Uses
In practice it is grown for parts that are eaten and long used in traditional medicine. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Caryophyllaceae
Pink Family
Buch-Bucha belongs to the Caryophyllaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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