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Field Mouse-Ear

Field Mouse-Ear

Cerastium arvense

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How common: Common

Alien species

Field Mouse-ear is a low, mat-forming perennial with grey‑green leaves and bright white flowers. It is widespread across the Northern Hemisphere and often appears in human‑made grassy places. Look for it on dry, sunny ground, from meadows and field margins to roadsides and lawns.

Did you know?

  • It can hybridise with the garden plant snow‑in‑summer (Cerastium tomentosum).
  • Despite its delicate look, it thrives across much of the Northern Hemisphere.

About the species

Identification

Forms loose mats of grey‑green shoots, 10–30 cm tall. Stems upright or leaning, softly hairy; very short leafy side shoots sit where the leaves meet the stem. Leaves grow in pairs, narrow and pointed, with short hairs. Flower clusters carry 4–10 white flowers. Each flower has five white petals, shallowly notched at the tip, about twice as long as the green leaf‑like parts behind them (petals 9–13 mm). Later a straight, straw‑brown capsule forms. Larger flowers and narrower leaves separate it from common mouse‑ear; snow‑in‑summer is much more silvery and felted. Flowers in Finland from June to August.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

meadow, yards and roadsides

Flowering

Jun–Aug

About the habitat

Dry, sunny, open ground such as meadows, roadsides, field edges, pastures, waste places and lawns. Fairly common in southern Finland; rare northwards up to the Oulu area and further north in western Lapland.

Sources

Photo: Andy Jordan, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6130120176

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki versot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38066

Text: Pinkka: Kasvitieteen retkeily Ahvenanmaalle - Lyhyet pysähdykset Ahvenanmaalla, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38066

Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38066

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketoh%C3%A4rkki

See also