Dictionary

winterweed en · NOUN

Etymology

From winter + weed.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) Various small weeds that grow in winter ▸ common chickweed (Stellaria media)
   • BLOOMS: early spring through fall Other common names for this plant include bird seed, starweed, and winterweed. That the seeds are eaten by several species of birds accounts for the name bird seed. 1984, Laura C. Martin, Wildflower Folklore, page 92:
   • WINTERWEED Stellaria media (L.) Cyrill The large Pink family has representatives in nearly every part of the world. Some of them are valuable ornamental plants and others are troublesome weeds. 1936, Fieldbook of Illinois Wild Flowers:
   • Chickweed – Starwort, Winterweed (Stellaria media) - Annual or biennial 2013, Bill Church, Medicinal Plants, Trees & Shrubs of Appalachia, page 14:
2. (uncountable, usually) Various small weeds that grow in winter ▸ Veronica hederifolia, a speedwell.
   • V. hederæfolia, L. (Ivy-leaved Speedwell. Winterweed.) 1888, James Madison Gore Carter, A Synopsis of the Medical Botany of the United States, page 80:
   • V. hederifolia, L. Ivy-leaved Speedwell. 3 — 8. Common in fields and by waysides. Popular name Winterweed. 1888, Francis William Galpin, An Account of the Flowering Plants, Ferns and Allies of Harleston:

Forms

Synonyms

chickenwort (Stellaria media) · chickweed (Stellaria media) · maruns (Stellaria media) · starweed (Stellaria media) · craches (Stellaria media) · starwort (Stellaria media) · common chickweed (Stellaria media) · ivy-leaved speedwell (Veronica hederifolia)