| Silene noctiflora | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Core eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Caryophyllaceae |
| Genus: | Silene |
| Species: | S. noctiflora |
| Binomial name | |
| Silene noctiflora L. |
|
Silene noctiflora is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common name night-flowering catchfly. It is native to Eurasia, but it is known on other continents as an introduced species and sometimes a weed. In North America, it is a common weed of grain crops in the Canadian prairie provinces and in much of the United States.[1] It grows in fields and in other disturbed habitat.
This is an annual herb producing a hairy, glandular stem up to about 75 or 80 centimeters in maximum height. It is sticky in texture. The hairy, widely lance-shaped leaves are up to 14 centimeters long and 5 wide, the largest ones located low on the stem. The flowers are nocturnal,[2] and occur in an open cyme of up to 15, each borne on an erect pedicel. The flower is encapsulated in a hairy calyx of fused sepals lined with a netlike pattern of veining. The petals are white to pink and each has two lobes at the tip. The flowers open at night and measure up to 2.5 centimeters wide when fully open. The flowers are fragrant.
Besides being a competitive weed, the plant is host to some plant pathogens that can spread to crop plants, including tobacco streak virus and Lychnis ringspot virus.[1]