Silene

Plant Characteristics

Origin:	✈	?

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water:	◍	?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.

Scientific Names

Read about Silene in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Silene (Greek name of one of Bacchus' companions described as covered with foam, also connected with sialon, saliva; referring to the stickiness of the stem and calyx of some species). Including Heliosperma and Melandrium in part. Caryophyllaceae. Catchfly. Campion. Erect, cespitose, decumbent or diffusely climbing annual, biennial, or perennial herbs, some of them tender and grown in the greenhouse, others hardy and planted outdoors for their ornamental effect; often excellent plants for the rock-garden. Leaves opposite, entire: fls. solitary or variously cymose, white, through pink to rose and purple; calyx 5-toothed, 10- to many-nerved, naked at the base; petals mostly crowned with a scale at the base of the blade; stamens 10; styles 3, rarely 4: pod 1-celled, sometimes 3-celled.—Over 400 species described, widely scattered over the world. There is a monograph of Silene, with a key, in the Journal of the Linnaean Society, vol. 32 (1896), by F. N. Williams, with 390 good species. Williams refers the common S. virginica and S. pennsylvanica as well as the European S. viscosa to the genus Melandrium, characterized by a strictly unicellular caps. with no trace of septation at the base. Only a few of the known species are in cult. Silenes are of easy culture. They mostly bloom in summer, and a few continue well into autumn. By good management the season of bloom may be continued through spring and summer. Toward this end the seeds of the common annual kinds should be sown in early autumn, instead of spring. As a rule, the common kinds prefer a sandy loam and full sunlight, but the rock-garden kinds require special treatment, and other suggestions for cultivation are given after the specific descriptions. The most popular kinds are the pink and rose annuals, S. Armeria and S. pendula. Of the perennials the most popular among the white-fld. kinds are S. maritima and S. alpestris, while S. virginica, S. pennsylvanica and S. Schafta are amongst the most popular kinds with colored flowers. A good horticultural review of the kinds in cultivation is found in The Garden, vol. 11, pp. 10-13 (1877). S. Chaffta, Hort., is probably a misspelling of S. Schafta.—S. Correvoniana, Hort., is offered as a rare plant growing in "compact tufts, with rosy pink fls. which almost resemble minute roses." —S. graminifolia, Hort., is not recognizable, as there are three plants going under that name.—S. Kitabeliana, Hort., may be S. multicaulis.—S. orientalis, Mill., is according to Miller a plant with st. erect, hirsute: lvs. nerved: fls. Purplish; calyx conical. It is not treated botanically by Williams, DeCandolle, Boissier, Nicholson, or Voss. but is offered in the trade as a perennial, 2-2 1/2 ft. high: fls. bright rose, in a head. Var. alba, Hort. and var. compacta, Hort., are also offered.—S. pteris grandiflora, Hort., is offered in the trade; the species is unknown botanically.—S. Wardii, Hort., is likened to S. Schafta on a large scale: said to grow about 1 ft. high, to have a loose graceful habit and an abundance of bright pink fls. Offered in the trade. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

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Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Silene. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Silene QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)