Caryophyllaceae: Pink Family — Catchfly & Pink
In the Pink family, leaves are generally opposite on swollen nodes. Most genera have smallish, regular, 5-petaled and 5-sepaled flowers. Silene (Catchfly or Campion) has larger, more striking flowers. A few genera, such Herniaria (Rupturewort) and Cardionema (Sandmat), have petal-like sepals, but lack true petals.
Hairy Pink – Petrorhagia dubia
Blooms:
April–May
Plant Height:
10–60 cm
Flower Size:
Medium
Origin:
Mediterranean
Habitat:
Disturbed areas, roadsides
Notes:
This plant provides dramatic spots of color, seemingly hovering in the air. Each flower is at the tip of a long, slender stem, with 5 heart-shaped petals and a fusiform (narrowing at both ends) tube. The petals have distinctive darker veining. Subtending bracts narrow to a short acute tip. Leaves are opposite, linear to oblong.
Many-nerved Catchfly – Silene coniflora
Blooms:
Apr–May
Plant Height:
20–65 cm
Flower Size:
Small
Origin:
Asia
Habitat:
Open areas, burns
Notes:
This is a slender, erect plant, glandular-short-hairy. It has a distinctive cone-shaped calyx. The flowers are very small (1–3 mm), white to pale pink. It seems that the plant is much more often seen in bud or fruit than in flower.
Windmill Pink / Catchfly – Silene gallica
Blooms:
Apr–June
Plant Height:
10–40 cm
Flower Size:
Small
Origin:
Europe
Habitat:
Grassy and disturbed areas
Notes:
Common and easily recognized by its one-sided inflorescence, which has a long row of whitish-pink flowers. The flowers have 5 angled petals, twisted at an angle suggesting tiny windmills. Like other members of its genus, it has a bladder-shaped calyx, glandular-hairy with 10 purplish-striped veins. Insects can get stuck on the sticky hairs – hence the alternative common name.
Indian Pink – Silene laciniata subsp. californica
Blooms:
Apr–July
Plant Height:
15–30 cm
Flower Size:
Large
Origin:
Native
Habitat:
Oak woodlands, chaparral and coniferous forest
Notes:
A low-growing plant with prostrate to decumbent stems and erect, bright red flowers. These are very distinctive, with their 5 petals divided into 4-6 narrow lobes. Each petal has 2 small appendages at its base. Leaves are broadly lanceolate to ovate, reducing in size towards the top of the stem. There are records of a related subspecies (subsp. laciniata) in the county, although this is usually found further south. This subspecies (right hand photo) has linear to narrowly lanceolate leaves, a narrower calyx and a taller, more open growth habit.
Lemmon’s Catchfly / Campion – Silene lemmonii
Blooms:
May–July
Plant Height:
15–45 cm
Flower Size:
Medium
Origin:
Native
Habitat:
Open to partly-shaded woodland
Notes:
Like Indian Pink (Silene laciniata, see above), this catchfly is distinctive, with its finely dissected petals divided into 4 linear lobes. The flowers are nodding, and may be either white (with a greenish bladder-shaped calyx) or pink (with pink-tinged veins on its calyx). The calyx has 10 veins. The exserted stamens are at least as long as the petals. The 3 styles are even longer.
