CARYOPHYLLACEAE PINK FAMILY 
SLEEPY ‘GAPCHFLY 
Silene antirrhina L. 
This plant gets its name from two interesting char- 
acteristics. It is called Sleepy because the flowers open 
for only a short time while the sun is shining and if they 
are picked and taken into the shade 
they quickly close. It is called Catchfly 
because a portion of the stem below each 
pair of leaves is sticky and insects 
which attempt to crawl up the stem are 
caught in this material and often perish 
there. It used to be said that this 
phenomenon served to protect the 
flowers from insects that might eat the 
nectar and pollen without aiding polli- 
nation, but since many relatives of this 
species seem to get along perfectly well 
without any such protection it is doubtful 
that there is any advantage in having a 
glutinous stem. 
The Sleepy Catchfly is an annual with a 
slender, somewhat branched stem 8-36 inches 
high. It occurs on rather dry soil in waste places 
and open woods nearly throughout North America 
except in the extreme north, and blooms from 
June to September. 
The small flowers have a tubular 5-toothed 
calyx, 5 pink petals or occasionally none, 10 
stamens and 1 pistil with 3 styles. The persistent 
calyx becomes somewhat expanded as the fruit 
enlarges and ripens. The latter is a many- 
seeded pod that opens by 6 teeth at the summit. 
The Bladder Campion, Silene Jatifolia (Mill.) Britten & Rendle, 
has been naturalized from Europe and although found from Quebec 
and Ontario, south to New Jersey, Illinois and Iowa, is rare in this 
state. The large white flowers in panicles have an inflated bladder- 
like calyx and 2-cleft petals that are nearly crownless. The calyx 
is also strikingly veined. The plant is covered with a whitish 
bloom and bears the characteristically paired leaves from swollen 
nodes. 
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