Silene coronaria (L.) Clairv. (redirected from: Lychnis coronaria)
Family: Caryophyllaceae
[Agrostemma coronaria L.,  more...]
Silene coronaria image

Perennial herb 40 cm - 0.8 m tall

Inflorescence: a loose, widely branched cluster (cyme) of a few flowers. One flower terminating each stalk (peduncle). Peduncles reaching 8 cm long when in fruit.

Flowers: few, bright red, on 0.5 - 1 cm long stalks. Stamens ten. Styles five.

Sepals: forming a cylindrical tube (calyx). Calyx 1 - 1.5 cm long, 10-veined, woolly, with five short lobes. Lobes 4 - 7 mm long, narrowly lance-shaped, converging, and twisted.

Petals: five, bright red, 2 - 3 cm long, broadly reverse egg-shaped, long-clawed.

Fruit: a dehiscent capsule (opening by five teeth), 1.2 - 1.6 cm long. Seeds numerous, brown, about 1 mm long.

Stems: multiple from base, upright, stout, unbranched (rarely branched), woolly.

Basal leaves: in a rosette, 5 - 10 cm long, 1 - 3 cm wide, spatula-shaped with a pointed tip, woolly.

Stem leaves: opposite, five- to ten- paired, stalkless, usually smaller than basal leaves, reduced upwards, egg-shaped to egg- lance-shaped with a pointed tip, woolly.

Similar species: Although the similar Lychnis chalcedonica is hairy, it is not woolly like L. coronaria.

Flowering: July to early September

Habitat and ecology: Introduced from Europe. Sometimes grown as an ornamental. A rare escape from cultivation, usually along roadsides. It has also been found in a degraded prairie under high-tension lines.

Occurence in the Chicago region: non-native

Etymology: Lychnis comes from the Greek word lychnos, meaning lamp, referring to the flame colored flowers. Coronaria means "used for or pertaining to garlands."

Author: The Morton Arboretum

Gray-tomentose perennial 4-8 dm, the stout stems rarely branched; basal lvs 5-10 נ1-3 cm, the cauline 5-10 pairs, usually smaller; fls few, the pedicels 5-10 mm; cal 12-15 mm, the narrowly lanceolate lobes 4-7 mm, connivent, twisted; pet crimson, 2-3 cm, without auricles, the appendages narrowly lanceolate, 1.5-2.5 mm, the blade broadly obovate, entire or emarginate, 10-15 mm; fr 12-16 mm; 2n=24. Native of Europe, often escaped from cult. in our range. June-Aug.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Silene coronaria image
Silene coronaria image
Silene coronaria image
Silene coronaria image
Silene coronaria image
Silene coronaria image
Silene coronaria image
Silene coronaria image
Silene coronaria image
Barry Breckling  
Silene coronaria image
Zoya Akulova