Silene antirrhina
Encyclopedia
Silene antirrhina is a species of flowering plant in the pink family
known by the common name sleepy catchfly. It is native to the Americas, where it is widespread throughout North America and parts of South America. It is known in Europe as an introduced species
. It can be found in a wide range of habitat types, including disturbed and recently burned
areas. It is sometimes weed
y. The plant is quite variable in appearance, its morphology
depending on several environmental factors, such as moisture level and available nutrients. In general it is an annual herb growing erect to a maximum height near 80 centimeters. The slender stem grows from a taproot
and branches near the top. There are dark-colored internodes on the stem, the upper ones often glandular in sticky in texture. Insects become trapped in the sticky patches on this protocarnivorous plant
, but it does not obtain any nutrients from them. The lance-shaped leaves are up to 6 centimeters long near the base of the stem, and are smaller and narrower farther up. The flower is enveloped in an inflated ovate calyx of fused sepal
s with ten veins. The calyx is open at the top, often revealing five double-lobed petals in shades of pink, red, or purple to white; the petals are sometimes absent.
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 the common name sleepy catchfly. It is native to the Americas, where it is widespread throughout North America and parts of South America. It is known in Europe as an introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
. It can be found in a wide range of habitat types, including disturbed and recently burned
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
areas. It is sometimes 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...
y. The plant is quite variable in appearance, its morphology
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
depending on several environmental factors, such as moisture level and available nutrients. In general it is an annual herb growing erect to a maximum height near 80 centimeters. The slender stem grows from a taproot
Taproot
A taproot is an enlarged, somewhat straight to tapering plant root that grows vertically downward. It forms a center from which other roots sprout laterally.Plants with taproots are difficult to transplant...
and branches near the top. There are dark-colored internodes on the stem, the upper ones often glandular in sticky in texture. Insects become trapped in the sticky patches on this protocarnivorous plant
Protocarnivorous plant
A protocarnivorous plant , according to some definitions, traps and kills insects or other animals but lacks the ability to either directly digest or absorb nutrients from its prey like a carnivorous plant...
, but it does not obtain any nutrients from them. The lance-shaped leaves are up to 6 centimeters long near the base of the stem, and are smaller and narrower farther up. The flower is enveloped in an inflated ovate 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 with ten veins. The calyx is open at the top, often revealing five double-lobed petals in shades of pink, red, or purple to white; the petals are sometimes absent.