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Red Campion

 
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Red campion (Silene dioica, syn. Melandrium rubrum) is a flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
 in the family Caryophyllaceae
Caryophyllaceae

The Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. The species are dicotyledons included in the order Caryophyllales....
, native throughout central, western and northern Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, and locally in southern Europe.

It is a herbaceous
Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
 biennial
Biennial plant

A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months....
 or perennial plant
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
, with dark pink to red flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s, each 1.8-2.5 cm across. The flowers are unscented. There are five petals which are deeply notched at the end, narrowed at the base and all go into an urn-shaped calyx
Sepal

A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Sepals in a "typical" flower are green and lie under the more conspicuous petals. As a collective unit the sepals are called the Wiktionary:calyx, and the collection of petals is called the Wiktionary:corolla....
.






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Encyclopedia


Red campion (Silene dioica, syn. Melandrium rubrum) is a flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
 in the family Caryophyllaceae
Caryophyllaceae

The Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. The species are dicotyledons included in the order Caryophyllales....
, native throughout central, western and northern Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, and locally in southern Europe.

It is a herbaceous
Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
 biennial
Biennial plant

A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months....
 or perennial plant
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
, with dark pink to red flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s, each 1.8-2.5 cm across. The flowers are unscented. There are five petals which are deeply notched at the end, narrowed at the base and all go into an urn-shaped calyx
Sepal

A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Sepals in a "typical" flower are green and lie under the more conspicuous petals. As a collective unit the sepals are called the Wiktionary:calyx, and the collection of petals is called the Wiktionary:corolla....
. It flowers from May to October. The plant grows to 30-90 cm, with branching stems. The deep green leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are in opposite pairs, simple acute ovate, 3-8 cm long with an untoothed margin; both the leaves and stems of the plant are hairy and slightly sticky. The upper leaves are stalkless. Male and female flowers are born on separate plants, the male with 10 stamens and a 10-veined calyx, the female with 5 styles and a 20-veined calyx. The fruit, produced from July onwards, is an ovoid capsule containing numerous seeds, opening at the apex by 10 teeth which curve back.

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
White Campion

Silene latifolia, or White Campion, is a flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native to most of Europe, western Asia and north Africa....
 (S. latifolia); these are common in some areas.

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
Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the Order Lepidoptera. The differences between butterflies and moths are more than just taxonomy....
 feed on the foliage [2].