42 



Fig. 12. 



White Campion, or White Cockle. 



Lychnis alba (L). 



A biennial weed introduced from Europe, with hairy and branch- 

 ing stems from 1 to 3 feet high. Like the Night-flowering Catchfly 

 it has a viscid secretion, which attracts many insects. The leaves are 

 oblong, with acute tips. The flowers are in loose panicles, white or 

 pink in color, and nearly f in. broad. As a rule they open at night 

 and remain so until the morning of the following day. The pod has 

 short teeth around the top, which curl back when dry, and the seeds 

 are distributed by the winds swaying the stem, when the seeds drop 

 out. In wet weather these teeth straighten out and completely close 

 the opening at the top. 



The seed (Fig. 12, a) is brown in color and kidney-shaped, with 

 tubercles regularly disposed over the surface. An average plant pro- 

 duces 10,000 seeds. 



Time of flowering, June-August. 

 Time of seeding, July- August. 

 Dispersal — by wind and as an impurity in seeds. 

 Eradication. Exercise great care in cleaning seed grain, and 

 examine all purchased grain with a sharp lookout for this seed. If 

 the weed be on the farm, follow the method outlined for Foxtail (Fig. 

 1) or Mustard (Fig. 15). 



