Stellaria media, otherwise known as chickweed, chickenwort or starwort, is an edible annual found growing in unmistakable intertwined tangles of stems and tiny white star-shaped flowers all over the world.Spreading its knotted mess outwards rather than upwards, chickweed is well known for causing all kinds of havoc with pristine lawns, meaning you might, unwittingly, already be well acquainted with it!It needn't however, be a merely annoying weed. If you're tearing it up anyway, why not try it out for dinner?Edible raw in salads, sandwiches, or in the stead of bean sprouts, though generally preferred cooked - when it takes on a spinachy taste - the humble chickweed can be an ace addition to any diet. All of the species is entirely edible, including flowers and seeds, though the roots aren't the tastiest part to go for. Chickweed has oodles of nutritional values too:
Chickweed is also well known for its ability to predict bouts of rain, folding its leaves up before a downpour, and yes, it gets its name from the fact that chickens love it. As always, if you are out foraging, make sure you pick the right plant before you go stuffing your face!Image: Bos11/Shutterstock