32 



FIG. 11. 



BLADDER CAMPION, OR Cow BELL. 

 Silene inflata (L). 



A naturalized perennial which promises to be a bad weed in Ontario ; 

 and it is spreading very fast. It grows from 6 inches to 2 feet in height, 

 and branches from the base. The leaves are oblong and vary greatly in 

 size. The flowers are white, about J in. broad, and are arranged in a 

 loose panicle. The flower cup (calyx), veined and inflated like a bladder, 

 distinguishes the plant from others that resemble it. 



The seeds are brown and kidney -shaped, with minute tubercles dis- 

 posed regularly over the surface (Fig. 11, a). An average plant produces 

 about 9,000 seeds. 



Time of flowering, June-August. 



Time of seeding, July-September. 



Dispersal by root stocks and as an impurity in seeds. 



The Night-flowering Catchfly (Silene noctiftora), resembles the Blad- 

 der Campion ; but it is an annual, tall and very leafy, with a viscid secre- 

 tion all over its stem, often so profuse that the stems and leaves are cov- 

 ered with small insects entangled in it. It opens at night and possesses 

 a fragrant smell. It is not so bad a weed as its relative, the Bladder 

 Campion. In Fig. 11 are shown the seeds of these two plants, natural 

 size and enlarged That on the left is Bladder Campion, that on the 

 right is the Night-flowering Catchfly. 



Eradication. For these weeds practically the same treatment as- 

 outlined for the creeping perennials (Canada Thistle, etc.) will answer, 

 although the plow may have to be resorted to more frequently, instead 

 of the broad -shared cultivator, on account of the size and thickness of 

 the roots. 



