Look out for patches of these delicate white “stars” in the hedgerows. The five petals are deeply notched. The narrow grass like leaves are in pairs on a square stem. The name stitchwort comes from the old belief it can take away the pain of a stitch
It has lots of local names including snapcracker from the brittleness of the flower stalk, Milkmaids, Daddy’s shirt buttons and poppers or popguns as its seeds will fire off noisily when ripe. The leaves and flowers are edible, but beware some say picking the flowers can provoke a thunderstorm
Lesser stitchwort (Stellaria graminea) flowers a bit later, has smaller flowers with the 5 petals so deeply divided it can look like there are 10