Cerastium brachypetalum explained

Cerastium brachypetalum, commonly called gray chickweed, grey mouse-ear or gray mouse-ear chickweed, is a spring blooming annual plant species. It is native to Mediterranean and temperate Europe, northwestern Africa, the Caucasus, and Western Asia. It has been introduced and naturalized in North America.^{[1] [2]}

Cerastium brachypetalum is one of 101 species deemed high priorities for conservation in the UK by the wild flower and plant charity Plantlife.^[3]

Subspecies

Ten subspecies are accepted.

• Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. atheniense – Greece (Attica)
• Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. balearicum – Balearic Islands
• Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. brachypetalum – France to central Europe, Scandinavia, southeastern Europe, and Morocco
• Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. corcyrense – northwestern Greece (Corfu)
• Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. doerfleri – Crete
• Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. iranicum – Iran
• Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. pindigenum – Albania and northern and central Greece
• Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. roeseri – Morocco and Algeria, Mediterranean Europe from Spain to Bulgaria, Turkey, and Cyprus
• Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. tauricum – Morocco, Mediterranean Europe, Crimea, Turkey, the Caucasus, and Western Asia
• Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. tenoreanum – France to Czechoslovakia, Greece, and Bulgaria

References

Milne-Redhead E. "Cerastium brachypetalum Pers in Britain" The Naturalist July Sept 1947: 95–96

Horn Peter C. "Cerastium brachypetalum in decline in Bedfordshire" BSBI News 65 18:20 (1994)

Horn Peter C. "The Decline and Conservation of Cerastium brachypetalum in Bedfordshire"The Bedfordshire Naturalist 48: 102 (1994)

Palmer J.R. "Cerastium brachypetalum - Status in West Kent" BSBI News 65: 21-22 (1994)

Horn Peter C. "Cerastium brachypetalum in a Bedfordshire Railway Cutting" BSBI News 101 25-26 (2006)

Notes and References

1. Cerastium brachypetalum. Flora of North America. 5.
2. Web site: USDA classification of Cerastium brachypetalum. United States Department of Agriculture. 16 May 2017.
3. http://www.plantlife.org.uk/index.html Plantlife website