bladder campion
Family
CaryophyllaceaeScientific Name
Silene alba
Other Common Names:
white cockle
evening lychnis
white campion
Synonyms (former Scientific Names):
Lychnis loveae
Melandrium album
Silene pratensis
Silene alba
Lychnis alba
Lychnis vespertina
Habit
Plants germinate in spring and grow through summer. Flowers occur from mid summer until frost. Plants grows erect and stems are covered with short and soft hairs.
Leaves
Leaf shape is variable, and can be relatively broad and elliptical or lanceolate and oval-shaped. The leaves are approximately 1.25.
Identifying Characteristics
Has hairy, opposite leaves and lobed, bladder-like flowers.
Flower Seed Head
The flowers of the white campion occur mostly in clusters, with the individual flowers being split and having around 5 white petals. Flowers consist of a bladder-like base with prominent veins that are constricted near the tip where it is ringed by 5 white petals that are parted in a V shape.
Seed Fruit
The seed is an ovular capsule with 10 teeth. Seed pods turn brown and persist through the winter. Each seed pod contains hundreds of tiny brown seed.
Where Found
White campion occurs along roadsides, fence rows, and in disturbed fields.
Growth Habit
upright and nonwoody
Thorns or Spines
not present
Approximate Flower Diameter
Varies:
pencil,
dime
Dominant Flower Color
white
Flower Symmetry
Varies:
radial symmetery,
bilateral symmetry
Leaf Hairs
has hairs
Leaf Arrangement
opposite
Leaf Margin
entire
Leaf Structure
simple
Leaf Stalk
Varies:
none,
shorter than leaf
Stem Hairs
has hairs
Stem Cross Section
round or oval
Milky Sap
not present
Root Structure
Varies:
fibrous,
taproot
Life Cycle
perennial
Ochrea
not present
Plant Type
Herb