Latin stella—a star, in reference to the star-shaped flowers.
Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves opposite, stipules absent. Flowers solitary or in paired clusters at the joints. Sepals 4-5. Petals 4-5 or absent, white, deeply notched. Stamens 8-10, occasionally fewer. Ovary with 1 cell, styles 3(-4). Fruit a capsule, opening by 6-8 valves.
S. holostea L. Stitchwort from Europe, W Asia and N Africa is occasionally available as a white-flowered, spring-flowering perennial.
About 120 species cosmopolitan, many weedy.
Source: (1997). Caryophyllaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.