''Silene dioica'' (

syn. The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

''Melandrium rubrum''), known as red campion and red catchfly, is a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native throughout central, western and northern Europe, and locally in southern Europe. It has been introduced in Iceland, Canada, the US, and Argentina.

Description

It is a biennial or perennial plant, with dark pink to red flowers, each 1.8–2.5 cm across. There are five petals which are deeply notched at the end, narrowed at the base and all go into an urn-shaped

calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

. As indicated by the specific name, male and female flowers are borne on separate plants (dioecious), the male with 10 stamens and a 10-veined calyx, the female with 5 styles and a 20-veined calyx. The fruit, produced from July onwards, is an ovoid capsule containing numerous seeds, opening at the apex by 10 teeth which curve back. The flowers are unscented. The flowering period is from May to October and the flowers are frequently visited by flies such as '' Rhingia campestris''. The plant grows to 30–90 cm, with branching stems. The deep green

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are in opposite and

decussate Decussation is used in biological contexts to describe a crossing (due to the shape of the Roman numeral for ten, an uppercase 'X' (), ). In Latin anatomical terms, the form is used, e.g. . Similarly, the anatomical term chiasma is named aft ...

pairs, simple acute ovate, 3–8 cm long with an untoothed margin; both the leaves and stems of the plant are hairy and slightly sticky. The upper leaves are stalkless.

Distribution

''Silene dioica'' is native to northern and central Europ

and is locally abundant throughout the British Isles. It is generally common in Northern Ireland, but rare elsewhere in Ireland. The plant is common on the Isle of Man where it is known as "blaa ny ferrishyn" or "fairy flower", and has a local taboo against picking it. Red campion grows in roadsides, woodlands, and rocky slopes. It prefers to grow on damp, non-acid soils. Plants of ''Silene latifolia'' × ''Silene dioica'' = ''Silene'' × ''hampeana'' that are fertile hybrids with the closely related white campion (''

Silene latifolia ''Silene latifolia'' subsp. ''alba'' (formerly ''Melandrium album''), the white campion is a dioecious flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native to most of Europe, Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is a herbaceous annual, occasio ...

'') are common in some areas. They may have paler pink flowers and be intermediate between the two species in other characters.

Disease

The flowers of red-campion along with a number of other Caryophyllaceae members, are very susceptible to a smut (fungus) infection. In this case by ''

Microbotryum silenes-dioicae Microbotryum silenes-dioicae is a species of fungus first isolated from Brittany, France. Its name refers to its host species, '' Silene dioica''. The fungus is the cause of anther-smut disease, which results in fungal spores replacing the pollen ...

'' known as anther-smut which appears as a mass of brown spores in the mouth of the flower where the anthers would normally be.

Uses

This plant is used as an ornamental perennial flower for the perennial border. One particularly notable variety is a hot pink, double flowered variety with deep green leaves called 'Firefly'. The

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

of the flowers is utilised by

bumblebees A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...

and

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

, and several species of moth feed on the foliage.

References

dioica Dioecious plants {{Caryophyllaceae-stub