Chickweed is a prostrate, winter annual that is found throughout North America except for in the far west. Common chickweed is primarily a weed of turfgrass, lawns and winter small grains.A low, inconspicuous, European annual 3 to 8 inches tall, chickweed forms mats up to 16 inches long. Tiny, pointed, oval, untoothed leaves, 1/2 to 1 inch long, grow in pairs (they're opposite).

A fine line of hair extends along the length of the slender, delicate stem.Tiny white flowers 1/8 inch across, with 5 petals so deeply cleft they look like 10, distinguish chickweed from other plants (Stellaria means star, referring to the flower). Five green sepals (modified leaves) grow as long as the petals they underlie.