Stitchwort
the Stellaria, a genus of Caryophyllaceæ, of which there are about 70 species (7) British) -all slender herbs, widely distributed through the temperate and cold regions of the globe.
The best-known members are the great stitchwort (S. Holostea), which from its large white flowers in early summer is an ornament of hedgerows and pastures; wood stitchwort (S. nemorum), frequent in the N. of England and Scotland in shady places, but not so striking as the above; and the chickweed (S. media), native through Arctic and N. temperate regions, and now a cosmopolitan naturalized weed. The great stitchwort was supposed to cure "stitch" in the side, hence the name.