Red Campion
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| iRed Campion | ||||||||||||||
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 Silene dioica (Red Campion)
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| Silene dioica (L.) Clairv. |
Red campion (Silene dioica, syn. Melandrium rubrum) is a flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native throughout central, western and northern Europe, and locally in southern Europe.
It is a herbaceous biennial or perennial plant, with dark pink to red flowers, each 1.8-2.5 cm across. The petals are divided, and all go into a slightly inflated calyx. It flowers from May to October. The plant grows to 30-90 cm, with branching stems. The leaves are in opposite pairs, simple acute ovate, 3-8 cm long; both the leaves and stems of the plant are hairy and slightly sticky.
Red campion grows in roadsides, woodlands,and rocky slopes. It prefers to grow on damp, non-acid soils [1].
Plants with paler pink flowers are hybrids with the closely related White Campion (S. latifolia); these are common in some areas.
[edit] Uses
Besides the aesthetic value of its flowers, the crushed seeds of red campion have also been used to cure snakebites [2]. The nectar of the flowers is utilised by bumblebees and butterflies, and several species of moth feed on the foliage [2].
[edit] References
