Forking Catchfly

(Silene dichotoma)

 

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of William S. Justice, Smithsonian Institution

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

 

Forking Catchfly (Silene dichotoma)

Alien: Native of Europe.

Identification:  Flowers white with 3 styles and 5 petals, each petal deeply cleft and narrow at the base. Calyx capsule not swollen and with 10 ribs. Flowers arising along the stem, not terminal, and bottom of flower sessile to the stem. Stem and leaves hairy. Leaves elongate with smooth outer margins. Plant 1 to 2 feet in height.

Distribution: Throughout most of eastern North America. Also occurs in the north-central and northwestern United States.

Habitat: Forking Catchfly is a weedy species found in a variety of distrubed habitats including roadsides, fields, and empty lots.

Flowering period: June to September.

Forking Catchfly (Silene dichotoma)

Similar Species:

 The deeply cleft white petals and the sessile arrangment of the flowers along the stem are both distinctive features of this species.

Similar Species

No Similar Species