Silene gallica
Encyclopedia
Silene gallica is a species of flowering plant in the pink family
known by several common names, including common catchfly, small-flowered catchfly, and windmill pink. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, but it can be found throughout much of the temperate world as a common roadside weed
. It is an annual herb growing up to 40 or 45 centimeters tall, its branching stem coated in long, curling hairs and shorter, glandular hairs. The lance-shaped leaves are up to 3.5 centimeters long low on the plant, and smaller on the upper parts. Flowers occur in a terminal inflorescence
at the top of the stem, and some appear in the leaf axils. Each flower has a tubular calyx of fused sepal
s lined with ten green or purple-red veins. It is coated in long hairs. It is open at the tip, revealing five white, pink or bicolored petals, each with a small appendage at the base.
Caryophyllaceae
The Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae and Polygonaceae...
known by several common names, including common catchfly, small-flowered catchfly, and windmill pink. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, but it can be found throughout much of the temperate world as a common roadside weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
. It is an annual herb growing up to 40 or 45 centimeters tall, its branching stem coated in long, curling hairs and shorter, glandular hairs. The lance-shaped leaves are up to 3.5 centimeters long low on the plant, and smaller on the upper parts. Flowers occur in a terminal inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
at the top of the stem, and some appear in the leaf axils. Each flower has a tubular calyx of fused sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s lined with ten green or purple-red veins. It is coated in long hairs. It is open at the tip, revealing five white, pink or bicolored petals, each with a small appendage at the base.