Ontario
Weeds: Night flowering catchfly
Table of Contents
- Name
- Other Names
- Family
- General Description
- Stems and Roots
- Leaves
- Flowers and Fruit
- Habitat
- Similar Species
- Related Links
Name: Night-flowering catchfly, Silene
noctiflora L.,
Other Names: Sticky cockle, silène
noctiflore, silène de nuit, attrape-mouche
Family: Pink Family (Caryophyllaceae)
General Description: Annual or sometimes
winter annual, reproducing only by seed.
Photos and Pictures
Night-flowering catchfly. A. Base of annual plant. B. Flowering
stem. C. Seedpod with 6 teeth.
Stems & Roots: Stems of flowering
plants 20cm-1m (8-40in.) high, erect, often much-branched near the
top but always single at the ground surface because they start from
seed each year, often with remnants of the cotyledons (seed leaves)
still visible; and the root tapering downwards as a slender taproot
with fine branches;
Leaves: Opposite (2 per node), tapering
towards both ends, lower ones widest near the tip, middle and upper
ones widest nearer the stem; upper leaves and stem branches densely
sticky-hairy;
Flowers & Fruit: Flowers showy,
usually opening in the evening but often open throughout the next
day as well; sepals light green, united to form a calyx tube with
5 prominent veins lined up with the 5 long-tapered teeth, and 5 less
prominent but distinctly branched veins; petals white, creamy-white
or pinkish, flaring outwards in a circle 1-3cm (2/5-1¼in.)
in diameter, each petal deeply lobed; flowers bisexual, having 10
stamens and 1 pistil, although rarely some may be unisexual; pistil
with 3 long styles, becoming an ovoid seedpod which usually opens
with 6 teeth and scatters many kidney-shaped, small (0.8-1mm, 1/30-1/25in.),
grayish-orange, rough seeds. Flowers from June to August.
Habitat: Night-flowering catchfly grows
in much the same situations as White cockle but is more common in
cultivated fields and is more widespread through northern Ontario.
Similar Species: It is distinguished by
its dense covering of sticky hair on upper stems, leaves and calyx,
its calyx with long-tapered teeth and 10 distinctly branching lengthwise
veins clearly visible as the seedpod expands inside, its seedpod opening
by usually 6 teeth, and its annual or winter annual habit. Very similar
in general appearance to White cockle; seedlings nearly identical
but are somewhat sticky-hairy.
Related Links
... on general Weed
topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control
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