About Silene L.
Silene latifolia, commonly called white campion, is a dioecious flowering plant in the Caryophyllaceae family. It is native to most of Europe, Western Asia, and northern Africa. This plant is typically a herbaceous annual, though it can occasionally be a biennial or short-lived perennial, reaching heights between 40 and 80 centimetres. In the United States, it is sometimes called bladder campion, but this name is more commonly used for the separate species Silene vulgaris, so the two should not be confused. Its appearance changes as it ages: young plants grow a basal rosette of oval to lance-shaped leaves 4 to 10 cm long, while older plants develop forked stems from the rosette that bear leaves in opposite pairs. Flowers grow in clusters at the tops of stems, and measure 2.5 to 3 cm in diameter. They have a distinct inflated calyx, five deeply notched white petals, and bloom from late spring to early autumn. The entire plant is covered in dense hairs. Rare plants with pink flowers are usually hybrids between white campion and red campion (Silene dioica). White campion grows in a wide range of open habitats, especially wastelands and fields, and it occurs most often on neutral to alkaline soils. While it can thrive in many conditions, it prefers sunny locations with rich, well-drained soil. One ecoregion where it naturally occurs is the Sarmatic mixed forests. In parts of England, it is called the Grave Flower or Flower of the Dead, because it often grows on gravesites and around tombstones. It has become naturalized across most of the United States in North America, with the largest populations concentrated in the country's north-central and northeastern regions. It is thought to have been introduced to North America as a contaminant in ship ballast. The Ojibwe people use an infusion made from the alba subspecies of this plant as medicine.
