white campion

(Silene latifolia ssp. alba)

Conservation Status
white campion
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

NNA - No Status Rank

SNA - No Status Rank

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
           
 
Description
 
 

White campion is a 12 to 40 tall, erect, occasionally annual, usually biennial or short-lived perennial, forb that rises from a stout, fleshy taproot. When young the plant forms a basal rosette of leaves. Later it sends up flowering stems.

The stems are erect or recline on the ground but with the tips ascending. When the plants are uncrowded the stems are branched, when crowded they are branched only near the top. The stems are finely hairy and are covered with minute, short, glandular hairs near the top. There are up to 10 pairs of leaves on the stem.

Basal leaves are broad, oblong lance-shaped to elliptic, hairy, and on leaf stalks. They are usually withering by the time the plant is in full flower. Stem leaves are narrower and opposite. They are lance-shaped to elliptic, 1 to 4¾ long, less than ¼ to 1½ wide, becoming progressively smaller as they ascend the stem. They taper gradually to a pointed tip and are attached to the stem without a leaf stalk. They are hairy on the upper and lower surface. The margins are untoothed and sometimes slightly wavy or crinkled.

The inflorescence is open, much-branched cluster in which each axis produces an opposite pair of lateral axes. Each axis pair is subtended by a pair of small, lance-shaped bracts.

Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. Both flowers are ¾ to 1 wide when fully open.

The sepals are fused at the base into a tube (calyx) terminating in 5 short lobes. The calyx is to 1 long, prominently veined, and hairy. The veins are often accented with purple.

The 5 petals are white, strongly two-lobed, inversely egg-shaped with the attachment at the narrow end, horizontally spreading, with a stalk-like narrow base (claw). The flowers are fragrant. They open in the evening.

On male plants the calyx has 10 major veins that are raised on the surface (prominent), forming ridges. The flower is on a short stalk or is nearly stalkless. There are 10 stamens that typically do not project beyond the calyx.

On female plants the calyx has 20 major veins, 10 bold and 10 faint, and becomes inflated and egg-shaped, to wide. The flower is on a to 2 long erect stalk. There are 5 styles that project barely beyond the calyx.

The fruit is a green, hairless, egg-shaped capsule the same size as the calyx, with 5 upright teeth (appearing as 10) at the top.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

12 to 40

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

White

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

Balkan catchfly (Silene csereii) stems and leaves are hairless and glaucous. The stems do not have glandular hairs. The inflorescence has long, raceme-like primary branches. The calyx is smaller, only slightly inflated, and not ridged. It has 10 long and 10 short veins. In male flowers, the stalks of the stamens that support the anthers are purple. Female flowers have 3 styles which are 2 times longer than the calyx. The flowers open during daytime. The fruit has 6 teeth at the top.

Bladder campion (Silene vulgaris) stems and leaves are hairless. The stems do not have glandular hairs. Plants either have both male and female flowers or they have female flowers only. The calyx is not ridged. It has 20 obscure, equal veins with a network of veins between them. The calyx the veins are green at first, then become pinkish. Female flowers have 3 styles which are 2 times longer than the calyx. The flowers open during daytime. The fruit has 6 teeth at the top.

Drummond’s campion (Silene drummondii var. drummondii) has narrow, wide stem leaves.

Night-flowering catchfly (Silene noctiflora) has perfect flowers with both male and female reproductive organs. The calyx is narrow at the mouth and constricted around the base. The flowers have just 3 styles. The fruit has 6 teeth at the top that are bent backwards.

Starry campion (Silene stellata) stems are unbranched. The leaves are in whorls of 4. The female flower has just 3 styles. The petals have 4 to 12 frilly lobes.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Disturbed sites.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

June to October

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 22, 28, 29, 30.

 
  2/22/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native to Asia, Europe, and Northern Africa. Introduced and naturalized in the United States.

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)  
  Subclass Caryophyllidae  
  Superorder Caryophyllanae  
 

Order

Caryophyllales (pinks, cactuses, and allies)  
 

Family

Caryophyllaceae (pink)  
  Subfamily Caryophylloideae  
  Tribe Sileneae  
 

Genus

Silene (catchflies)  
  Subgenus Behenantha  
  Section Melandrium  
  Species Silene latifolia (white campion)  
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

Five subspecies of white campion have been described. Only one, ssp. alba, occurs in North America.

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Lychnis alba

Lychnis X loveae

Lychnis pratensis

Lychnis vespertina

Melandrium album

Silene alba

Silene pratensis

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

bladder campion

bladder-campion

evening lychnis

white campion

white cockle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Bract

Modified leaf at the base of a flower stalk, flower cluster, or inflorescence.

 

Calyx

The flower cup. May be the group of outer floral leaves (sepals) collectively, or a tube with lobes.

 

Claw

A stalk-like narrowed base of some petals and sepals.

 

Glandular hairs

Hairs spread over aerial vegetation that secrete essential oils. The oils act to protect against herbivores and pathogens or, when on a flower part, attract pollinators. The hairs have a sticky or oily feel.

 
 
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

Plant

 
    white campion      
           
 

Inflorescence

 
    white campion   white campion  
           
 

Calyx

 
    white campion   white campion  
           
 

Flower

 
    white campion      
           
 

Leaves

 
    white campion   white campion  
           
 

Stem

 
    white campion   white campion  
           
    white campion      
           
 

Infructrescence

 
    white campion   white campion  
           
    white campion      

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
  White Campion
Andree Reno Sanborn
 
  White Campion  
 
About

Silene latifolia

 
  Lychnis alba WHITE CAMPION
Frank Mayfield
 
  Lychnis alba  WHITE CAMPION  
  Prostý příběh * Simple Story (Country)
drnespor
 
   
 
About

Published on Jun 29, 2012

Cz: Původní hudba Johnny Soberman. Květinou je silenka širolistá (Silene latifolia). www.drnespor.eu: Svépomocné příručky, relaxační nahrávky, smích atd. Oblíbená jóga: www.biharyoga.net. Oblíbený čchi-kung: www.zy-qigong.cz, www.zyq.sk. Svépomoc: www.anonymnialkoholici.cz. AZ! Vše dobré!

English: Enjoy original guitar music and song by Johnny Soberman. The flowwer is White Campion (Silene latifolia). www.drnespor.eu: Papers, relaxation recordings, laughter, etc. My Favorite Yoga: www.biharyoga.net. My Favorite Qigong: www.springforestqigong.com, www.zyqigong.org. Self-help: www.aa.org. Best Wishes

 

 

slideshow

       
 
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Other Videos
 
  White Campion (Silene latifolia) - 2012-05-05
W3stlander
 
   
 
About

Published on May 7, 2012

Silene latifolia, or White Campion, is a dioecious flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae.

-------------------

De avondkoekoeksbloem, witte silene of lijnkruid (Silene latifolia subsp. alba, synoniemen: Melandrium album of Silene pratensis) is een plant uit de anjerfamilie (Caryophyllaceae).

   
  White Campion (Silene latifolia) - 2013-06-06
W3stlander
 
   
 
About

Published on Jun 10, 2013

Silene latifolia (formerly Melandrium album), or White Campion, is a dioecious flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae.

---------

De avondkoekoeksbloem, witte silene of lijnkruid (Silene latifolia subsp. alba, synoniemen: Melandrium album of Silene pratensis) is een plant uit de anjerfamilie (Caryophyllaceae).

   
  White Campion (Silene Latifolia) - 2012-06-07
W3stlander
 
   
 
About

Published on Jun 11, 2012

Silene latifolia, or White Campion, is a dioecious flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae.

-----------

De avondkoekoeksbloem, witte silene of lijnkruid (Silene latifolia subsp. alba, synoniemen: Melandrium album of Silene pratensis) is een plant uit de anjerfamilie (Caryophyllaceae).

   
  Nightshot of Silene latifolia, hawkmoth and alien.
Markus Jerominek
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Jul 3, 2008

pollination of silene latifolia by a hawkmoth. After pollination an incect comes around, that i don´t know. Maybe it´s an parasite of the hawkmoth.

   

 

Camcorder

 
 
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