Citation: L., Sp. Pl. 416 (1753)

Synonymy: Silene quinquevulnera L., Sp. Pl. 416 (1753).

Common name: Mediterranean catchfly.

Description:
Erect glandular-pubescent annual to c. 60 cm high, well developed specimens usually branched; lower leaves obovate-spathulate, the base tapering to a flattened petiole, c. 5.5 cm long, c. 1.5 cm wide; the upper leaves narrower, lanceolate, obtuse, ciliate with long hairs towards the base, sessile or subsessile.

Flowers erect, crowded, mostly unilateral above, widely spaced towards the base of the inflorescence; bracts linear, herbaceous; pedicels to c. 2 cm long or the upper flowers sessile or subsessile; calyx 10-nerved, cylindrical or narrowly ovoid, c. 1.3 cm long, c. 0.5 cm wide, greenish, subclavate in fruit, not umbilicate, with short lanceolate teeth, margins ciliate; petals pink, 2-fid; styles 3.

Capsule with 6 teeth, 8-11 mm long, cylindrical or ovoid-oblong, on very short or almost obsolete carpophores; seeds reniform, with tuberculate groove.

Published illustration: Cunningham et al. (1982) Plants of western New South Wales, p. 305.

Distribution:  S.Aust.: SL, SE.   W.Aust.; N.T.; N.S.W.; Vic.; Tas.   native to Europe. Flowering time: Sept. — Jan.

Biology: No text

Taxonomic notes: South Australian collections of this species are referred to ssp. nocturna. *S. longicaulis Pourret ex Lagasca, Gen. Sp. Pl. 15 (1816), which may be keyed to S. nocturna, but can be readily distinguished by its 2-winged seeds, has been collected once in MU (in 1985). It is native to Spain and Portugal and is naturalised in Vic.

Author: Not yet available