Summary ³

Silene latifolia (formerly Melandrium album), the white campion is a dioecious flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native to most of Europe, Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is a herbaceous annual, occasionally biennial or a short-lived perennial plant, growing to between 40–80 centimetres tall. It is also known in the US as bladder campion but should not be confused with Silene vulgaris, which is more generally called bladder campion.

Description ⁴

Family:
Caryophyllaceae (Pink)

Height:
18 to 48 inches

Leaves:
Leaves are oppositely attached, dull green, and hairy (3-4” long and ¼-1” wide), beginning as a basal rosette.

Flower:
White flowers (1-1½” across) emerging from hairy stalks in small clusters at the top of the plant. Flowers have 5, deeply-notched, white or light pink petals, which emerge from a green bladder with reddish-purple veins at the tip of each stalk.

Bloom time:
May-September

Nicknames:
Bladder Campion, White Cockle, Evening Campion

Habitat:
White Campion grows best in full to partial sun in well-drained, fertile, loamy soils. It is commonly found in fields, weedy meadows, woodland edges, gardens, and in recently disturbed areas like roadsides and waste areas.

Wildlife Benefits:
Nectar from flowers is attractive to several species of sphinx moths.

Can I plant this in my garden?
This plant is a weedy species native to Europe, and thus should not be planted. Control methods include hand-cutting or hand-pulling individual plants before they go to seed.

References:
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/white-campion
https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/evening_campion.htm

Range ⁴

Sources and Credits

1. (c) David Renoult, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by David Renoult
2. (c) Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, all rights reserved, uploaded by Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District
3. Adapted by Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silene_latifolia
4. (c) Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNaturalistAU taxon page
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• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
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• USDA PLANTS database
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