CARYOPHYLLACEAE 



PINK FAMILY 



SLEEPY CATCHFLY 



Silrne 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 i 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 latifolia (Mill.) Britten 6c Rendle, 

 has been naturalized from Europe and although tound 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 Irom swollen 

 nodes. 



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