34 



FIG. 12. 



WHITE CAMPION, OR WHITE COCKLE. 

 Lychnis alba (L). 



A biennial weed introduced from Europe, with hairy and branching 

 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 

 wind 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 exam- 

 ine 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 Mus- 

 tard (Fig. 15). 



