CARYOPHYLLACEAJE (PINK FAMILY) 147 



three-celled at base, a characteristic of all the Silenes ; the 

 seed is small and dark brown. (Fig. 98.) 



Means of control 



Hay should be cut from infested meadows before the seed matures 

 and falls into the soil. It is better that there should be some pres- 

 ent loss if thereby the ground is made comparatively clean for the 

 next crop. 



FORKED OR HAIRY CATCHFLY 

 Silene dichotoma, Ehrh. 



Introduced. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom : July to September. 



Seed-time: August to October. 



Range: Eastern United States, Maine to Texas; also on the 



Pacific Slope. 

 Habitat: Clover fields, meadows, and waste places. 



A special pest in clover fields. Stem erect, hairy, one to three 

 feet tall, branching by forking. Lower leaves petioled, two or 

 three inches long, pointed at both ends, the lowermost tapering 

 to hairy petioles ; stem-leaves sessile, becoming mere pointed 

 bracts near the top. Flowers in forking, one-sided spikes, sessile 

 or on very short pedicels ; petals five, pale pink or white, deeply 

 cleft ; styles three, exserted ; stamens ten ; calyx about a half-inch 

 long, five-ribbed, very hairy, short-toothed. Capsule many-seeded, 

 oblong ovoid, opening at apex by three or six teeth. 



Means of control the same as for the Sleepy Catchfly. 



NIGHT-FLOWERING CATCHFLY 

 Silene noctifldra, L. 



Other English names: Clammy Cockle, Sticky Cockle. 



Introduced. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom: June to September. 



Seed-time: July to October. 



Range: Nova Scotia to Manitoba, southward to Florida and 



Missouri. 

 Habitat : Cultivated ground ; clover and alfalfa fields, meadows, 



and waste places. 



