Silene armeria, commonly known as the Sweet William Catchfly, is a plant of the family Caryophyllaceae

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...

. Originally a native of Europe, it has become widespread in the USA. A small-growing form

Form (botany)

In botanical nomenclature, a form is one of the "secondary" taxonomic ranks, below that of variety, which in turn is below that of species; it is an infraspecific taxon...

 is known as Dwarf Catchfly. The name comes from the way in which small insects are trapped by the sticky sap exuded onto the stem. However it is not currently regarded as a carnivorous plant

Carnivorous plant

Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic...

, though it has been identified as a carnivorous plant in the past.